What to do if you are charged with domestic assault?

If you are charged with anything related to domestic assault, the first thing we recommend that you do is to hire a lawyer. Hiring a lawyer who has lots of experience and knowledge surrounding your charges is the best thing you can do for yourself and your case.

Read more: What to do if you are charged with domestic assault?

If you decide not to hire a lawyer, then you will have to make sure that you go to your court appearance. This is an important thing to remember.

It is also a good idea to be proactive and do some counselling. For example, if you think that alcohol is a factor in why you are being charged, then go to Alcoholics Anonymous or rehab. If you have anger issues, take an anger management class. Basically, just take initiative and work on the rehabilitation side of things yourself. This could help more than you think.

It is also important that you follow your bail conditions as carefully as possible.

What are the bail conditions for spousal assault charges?

Each accused person gets their own set of bail conditions. There is no general bail condition that will apply to every single person.

Typically, for a domestic violence charge, there will usually be a ‘no go’ and no contact. This means that you can’t call your ex or go to their house, work, place of worship or education. Within those conditions, there might be some other things in, such as an area restriction, saying you can’t go to a certain neighbourhood, or rules about contact with children if there are kids involved.

Sometimes there can be exceptions to your bail conditions. If you’ve gotten bail conditions that are causing you a problem, for example, your bail conditions stop you from being able to see your children, then you can ask your lawyer to help get your bail conditions varied. This way you can still manage what you need to manage in your life, while still following your bail conditions.

If you get caught breaching your bail conditions, you can be charged with a new offence, and the court can also revoke your bail altogether. If you’re charged with breaching, the court can essentially say, “sorry, these were the conditions of your release, you breached them, so now you’re going to stay in jail until your trial date.”

This is why following your bail conditions is so important. If you are confused about what your bail conditions are or need help getting them varied, don’t hesitate to contact our offices.  

Read more: What to do if you are charged with domestic assault?