Understanding What Comes Next After Being Served with an EPO
You’ve just been served with an emergency protective order, and this is the first time you’ve found out that someone has filed for a restraining order against you. What are your next steps? Hi, my name is Carl Birkhead. I’m a Tulsa protective order attorney with Wirth Law Office in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I’ve been practicing family and criminal law for almost eight years now, and I want to help you make law easy by talking about what to do if you’ve been served with a protective order.
Initial Reactions and Important Guidelines
The biggest thing that I can tell you in this situation, and what a lot of people forget, is don’t reach out to the person who filed for the protective order against you. I realize that just sitting here watching this video, that probably seems like a very easy, no-brainer, common-sense thing to do, but you’ve got to understand, for a lot of people in these situations, it’s very emotional. You don’t just go through your day expecting to get served with legal paperwork, much less with a restraining order.
Understandably, you might feel a little bit emotional after that. You might be upset. You might be confused. You’re going to feel hurt because no matter what, it’s going to seem like some kind of betrayal of trust. Whether or not the grounds for the protective order are justified, whether or not you’ve done what the petitioner has accused you of doing, it’s never easy, and it’s never an easy pill to swallow whenever you’ve been served with this paperwork.
Avoiding Common Mistakes
A lot of times, I’ll get clients that will come to me and they say, I just got so upset. I didn’t understand what was going on. I didn’t understand why this was happening. I wanted answers, and so I called them, or so I texted them, or so I went to their house. Please, save yourself. No, no, no. Don’t do that, because if you do that, then you’re risking picking up a criminal charge for a protective order violation.
What you need to do is you need to either contact an attorney or, on your own, start figuring out what evidence you have and what testimony you can bring to refute these charges. I recommend hiring an attorney, not just because I’m a lawyer and I’m biased, but because, honestly, we see these things all the time. We know the process. We know the law. We know how to navigate it.
Building Your Defense
Whether on your own or with an attorney, let’s just sit down. Let’s figure out what evidence you have. Let’s figure out, do you have any witnesses that can refute these allegations? Do you have anyone who can say, No, I never saw them slap that person? Or do you have anyone that can say, oh yeah, no, on the night that they’re saying that they were getting their head stomped in, my buddy was actually with me. He wasn’t even there. I’m his alibi.
Let’s figure out what witnesses you have that can help bolster your defense. What evidence do you have that can help bolster your defense? Let’s figure out what we can do to keep this from becoming a final order of protection because you have rights. You have a life, and we want to make sure that those rights are protected and that you’re able to live your life the way that you want to be able to live it.
Contact Us for Your Low-Cost Initial Strategy Session
My name is Carl Birkhead. I’m a Tulsa criminal defense attorney with Wirth Law Office, and I want to help you make law easy. If you are facing an EPO and need assistance, please reach out to us at 918-879-1681 to schedule a low-cost initial strategy session. Let’s work together to protect your rights and navigate the legal challenges ahead.
