DOMESTIC
VIOLENCE IN SAN
BERNARDINO COUNTY
Jump
to:
·
What Is
Domestic Violence
·
Misdemeanor
Or Felony? What’s The
Difference?
·
What
Is The Domestic Violence Prosecution Unit?
·
Why
Were Changes Filed Against Him?
·
What Will His
Sentence Be?
·
Will
I Have To Testify Against Him In Court?
·
Will I
Have To Hire An Attorney?
·
He’s
Pressuring Me To Drop Charges, Can I?
·
He
Says He Won’t Hit Me Again, Will He?
·
Who Should I
Call For Help?
District
Attorney’s Office
Domestic Violence Prosecution Unit
WHAT
IS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE?
Domestic
Violence is a violent confrontation that explodes in the home
between family members; between two people in a relationship who
live together; between a woman and the father of her children.
It can happen between father and daughter, mother and son, an
adult child and an elderly parent, but most often it occurs between
a man and a woman living together, married or not, with the woman
being the victim in the overwhelming majority of cases.
Sometimes weapons are used, sometimes property is damaged,
but most often the man in the relationship repeatedly injures the
woman using physical force.
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MISDEMEANOR
OR FELONY? WHAT’S THE
DIFFERENCE?
Generally,
if you suffer broken bones, or other serious injury, or receive a
wound from a weapon (such as a knife or a gun), or if your injuries
require a hospital stay, or result in permanent physical damage to
you, then the assault against you is classified as a felony.
Also, if the act is committed by someone who has a
significant criminal record, or who has a prior conviction for this
type of conduct, the case may be charged as a felony.
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WHAT
IS THE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PROSECUTION UNIT?
The Domestic
Violence Prosecution Unit of the District Attorney’s Office is a
special unit formed to prosecute misdemeanor and felony Domestic
Violence cases in San Bernardino County.
The Unit consists of a specially trained staff of attorneys,
victim-witness advocates, clerical personnel, investigators, and
volunteers. The Unit
was formed in effort to diminish the escalating violence occurring
in San Bernardino County homes.
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WHY
WERE CHARGES FILED AGAINST HIM?
If
you are the victim in a case being prosecuted by the District
Attorney’s Office, the man who hurt you had a criminal complaint
filed against him by the District Attorney’s Office for the
following reasons:
1.
The police officers who responded to the 911 emergency
call believed that a crime against you had been committed.
They wrote this information in a report and sent it to the
District Attorney’s Office with a request that the defendant be
prosecuted for breaking the law.
2. A
prosecutor in the District Attorney’s Office read this police
report and also believed that a crime against you had been
committed.
3. If
the defendant has a criminal history, including acts of violence
against you or others, a computer printout of this information was
reviewed and attached to the case file.
4. If
photographs were taken by the police, at the time of the incident,
showing your injuries and/or damage to your property, these were
studied and included in the case file.
5. The
prosecutor ordered a tape-recorded copy of the 911 emergency call
from the police department, listened to it, and made it part of the
case file.
6. Any
written information voluntarily provided by you to the District
Attorney’s Office detailing the immediate case and also any past
history of abuse against you by the defendant is also made part of
the case file.
7. The
prosecutor may ask an investigator to interview you and any
witnesses to the violence. The investigator’s written report then
becomes part of the evidence in the case.
If the case goes
to trial, all of the above information will be used as evidence in
the courtroom to prove that the defendant is guilty of the charges
filed against him by the District Attorney.
This will be in addition to the live testimony of the police
officers who responded to the 911 emergency call, as well as any
witnesses to the incident, including paramedics, neighbors, and
children.
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WHAT
WILL HIS SENTENCE BE?
First-time
offenders are required to enroll in an anger management counseling
program. They are also placed on informal probation for three years
and ordered by the judge not to break any more laws, and not to
annoy, molest or harass you. If
the District Attorney feels that it is appropriate, based on the
facts of the incident, the defendant’s prior criminal history, or
if he is currently on probation for any offense, he or she will make
a recommendation to the Court that the defendant serve some jail
time. For a first
offender, they are frequently allowed to complete their jail time on
weekends and/or in a work service program through the county jail.
If the defendant does not do what the judge gave him a chance
to do, then the judge has the power to send him to jail.
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WILL
I HAVE TO TESTIFY AGAINST HIM IN COURT?
You
only have to testify in court if you receive a subpoena from the
District Attorney ordering you to appear in court to testify in a
trial. But at least 90%
of Domestic Violence cases are resolved without going to trial.
This is how it works:
1.
When a criminal complaint has been filed against the
defendant, he is ordered to go to court and enter a plea of either
“Guilty” or “Not Guilty.”
This first step is called the arraignment.
For a variety of reasons, many defendants plead “Not
Guilty” when they are arraigned.
If the defendant cannot afford an attorney, he will ask the
court to appoint one for him at this time.
A second court date is then scheduled.
This is called the pretrial; it usually takes place about 15
days after the arraignment.
2.
At the pretrial, the defendant will appear with his
attorney. On this date
the attorney will have a conference with the prosecutor and review
all of the evidence that the prosecutor will use in court to prove
that the defendant committed a violent act against you.
The prosecutor will offer to recommend a particular sentence
to the judge, in exchange for a “Guilty” plea from the
defendant, on the pretrial date.
3.
The defense attorney will talk to the defendant and let
him know what sentence the prosecutor will recommend to the judge.
A majority of the defendants in Domestic Violence cases
change their pleas to “Guilty” at the pretrial.
This is because they now realize how much evidence the
prosecutor has and they also realize that if the case goes to trial
and they are found guilty by a judge and/or jury, the prosecutor
will recommend a harsher sentence.
4.
If the defendant refuses the prosecution’s offer at the
pretrial date, then a date is set for trial.
The trial date will generally be 15 days after the pretrial.
5.
It is important for you to know that if the defendant
pleads “Guilty” at either the arraignment or the pretrial date,
there will be no trial, and you will not have to testify in court.
6.
Even if a trial date is set, the defendant can still
change his plea on the day of the trial.
This means that although you will have to go to court if you
receive a subpoena, you will not have to testify if the defendant
changes his plea to “Guilty” at this time.
While the
criminal case is pending, the judge will usually make a “stay
away” order. This
order means that until the criminal case is resolved through a plea
of “Guilty” or a trial, the defendant is ordered to stay away
from you. He is not to
visit you, write you, call you, come to your home, come to your
place of business, or send you messages through other people.
This order is to protect you from being harassed by the
defendant or pressured by him or others.
If the defendant does not obey the terms of this order, he
will be told to appear in court again to answer to the judge who
issued the order. Again,
this means that if he did not do what the judge told him to do, the
judge has the power to send him to jail.
If you would like an order like this one as a term of the
defendant’s probation, rather than just an order that he not annoy
you, please let the Deputy District Attorney or the victim-witness
advocate assigned to your case know.
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WILL
I HAVE TO HIRE AN ATTORNEY?
No.
You do not have to hire an attorney because you are the
victim of a crime. When
this man abused you, he committed a criminal act which violated the
laws of the State of California.
The prosecutor from the District Attorney’s Office
represents the People of the State of California.
The People of the State of California are prosecuting him for
what he has done.
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HE’S
PRESSURING ME TO DROP CHARGES, CAN I?
Tell him that it
is impossible for you to drop the charges because you are not the
one who filed the charges. The
charges were filed by the District Attorney’s Office after
reviewing a considerable amount of evidence against him.
It is important for this person to realize that he must live
within the laws of our society and that his violent actions against
you, or anyone else, have no place in our community.
It is also important that he get the help he needs whether it
is counseling or whatever else may be appropriate.
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HE
SAYS HE WON’T HIT ME AGAIN, WILL HE?
Unless he
receives counseling for his violent behavior towards you, he may not
be able to stop being violent on his own, even if his intentions are
sincere. Many violent
men grew up in violent homes where they themselves were abused or
where they saw their fathers physically hurt their mothers.
This violent behavior may also create a danger to your
children.
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WHO
SHOULD I CALL FOR HELP?
If
you are in a crisis situation, call the police at 911.
If you need to talk to someone about your case, call the
District Attorney’s Office that is prosecuting the case and ask to
speak to a victim-witness advocate.
If there is not someone immediately available, your call will
be returned as soon as possible.
Contact one of the following organizations if you need a safe
place to stay or counseling:
Barstow:
Haley House
(760) 256-3441
Big
Bear:
Doves
(909) 866-5723
Hesperia:
High Desert Domestic Violence
(760) 949-HELP
Joshua
Tree:
Unity Home
(760) 366-9663
San
Bernardino: Option
House
(909) 381-3471
Victorville:
A Better Way
(760) 955-8723
West
End:
House of Ruth
(909) 988-5559
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