One of the more serious misdemeanors charges is domestic violence.  In Colorado there must be an underlying crime, usually criminal mischief, harassment, or the more severe crime of assault, but occasionally sexual assault or even false imprisonment.  Domestic violence is is a sentence enhancer, which means that it enhances the sentence of the underlying crime such as assault or harassment.

In many states, years ago, law enforcement would be called to a family or domestic violence disturbance and leave without intervening or arresting someone.  As a result, there were many women that would continue to be victimize by their spouse.  Colorado's legislature now requires that whenever law enforcement arrives at the scene, regardless of who called, if there is probable cause to believe that harassment or assault occurred and the parties have been intimate with each other, than one or both of the parties will be arrested.  The problem is that domestic violence is the criminal justice systems response to problems of relationships, and we have had many cases in which the person arrested really did nothing criminally wrong, but rather interacted with a spouse or other significant person within the context of the relationship.  Consequently, relationship and psychological issues are attempted by the courts to be addressed to prevent physical and emotional harm.

Anyone convicted (or even deferred) of assault or harassment with the domestic violence enhancer will be required, in addition to other requirements, to participate in domestic violence counseling of 24 or more likely 36 weeks although this is currently being reviewed to possibly be modified to a risk-based assessment where the counseling would be tailored to the actual risk of the participant.
 

Send mail to George AT LSM-law.com with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 by Linda S. Miller, p.c.
Last modified: January 25, 2009