Understanding the Complexities of Domestic Violence Cases
Are you in a domestic violence situation and you’re wondering how to act as far as legal proceedings go? My name is Carl Birkhead. I’m an attorney with Wirth Law Office in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and I want to help you make law easy by giving you some tips for how to behave in these DV situations as it relates to the law. It could be a case where it’s a criminal charge, it could be a custody case, it could be something else.
Victims don’t always know how to act. They don’t know what is okay, what isn’t okay, what is against the rules, what is not against the rules. A lot of times, whether it’s a criminal case or a custody case, a protective order is in play. Victims don’t always know what the rules are for them in these situations. I want to help you out a little bit.
Importance of Following Protective Orders
First and foremost, the best thing I can tell you is not to contact the abuser. I’ve had cases come up before where we had very solid evidence of domestic violence. We had very solid evidence that abuse was happening in front of the children, but my clients would contact the abuser, voluntarily go see the abuser, and break the protective order that they had filed against the abuser to go and interact with them. That is going to hurt your case in these scenarios.
If we’re trying to show that you are in danger at the hands of this other person, but you’re voluntarily going and speaking to them without talking to your lawyer, without reaching out to law enforcement, anything like that, it undercuts the severity of the danger that we’re trying to show the court in these situations. It gets tough and it’s complicated because a lot of times, these aren’t just random Joe on the street that’s gone and abused someone. This is your wife, your husband, your brother, your boyfriend, your parents, and your children.
Protecting Yourself and Your Loved Ones
People that you want to be able to maintain a relationship with, and in these situations, you just absolutely can’t. In the instance I’m thinking of, because the victim went back and was interacting with the abuser, now we’re in a situation where it’s going to be more difficult to protect the child from that abuser or from being exposed to another situation like that. Your focus has to shift from the relationship you have with the person that’s perpetrating the domestic violence and it needs to shift towards protecting yourself and your loved ones from that scenario.
Reach Out for Guidance and Support
These are very, very, very emotional situations and I understand that it’s not always easy to think clearly. If you’re in a situation where you believe yourself to be the victim of domestic violence and you’re not sure how to act, please call us at 918-879-1681. My name is Carl Birkhead. I’m with Wirth Law Office and I want to help you. Thank you.