Prosecution of Domestic Violence in Columbia

When deciding to bring a case against a person accused of domestic violence, a prosecutor is going to look at the statements given by the alleged victim as well as any statement given by the defendant. A prosecutor also will look to see if there are photographs of the injuries to support the allegation of domestic violence. They will look at the evidence and try to see if the evidence meets the definition of domestic violence.

Ultimately, they may be looking at whether they think they can prove the case with the available evidence. They will go through the details of the case to look for anything that will trigger a higher charge. In a lot of cases, the evidence amounts to conflicting eyewitness accounts, which can be difficult for prosecutors to prove to work with. For more information about the prosecution of domestic violence in Columbia, contact a practiced domestic violence attorney today.

What Must a Prosecutor Prove in a Domestic Violence Case?

The prosecution of domestic violence in Columbia must prove that the case meets the definition of either inflicting physical harm or injury to the household member or attempting to do so in a manner that would reasonably create a fear of imminent peril. For a high and aggravated nature case, the evidence would have to show that the defendant committed the offense, manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life and resulting in great bodily injury.

The prosecutor may also have to prove if there was reasonable fear. This can be a situation, for example, in which somebody swings a baseball bat at another person’s head and missed. That swing could have caused great bodily injury if it had hit the person, so there would be reasonable fear involved. In domestic violence cases, the prosecutor also would look to see if the evidence exists to support the arrest warrant. The prosecutor will want to make sure that they have a case to pursue and find out about any weaknesses in their case.

Potential Benefits of Putting an Alleged Victim on the Stand

There are some potential benefits of a prosecutor putting an alleged victim on the stand. A person has a Sixth Amendment right to confront their accuser, and that is essentially done through cross-examination. If the accuser does not testify against the person, the person has a chance of getting the case dismissed or being found not guilty. This means that a victim failing to testify is often a sign of a weak case, as many domestic violence cases rely entirely on victim testimony.

Another benefit of having an alleged victim on the stand is to exploit any credibility issues in their testimony. For example, the lawyer can be aggressive on cross-examination, proving that the person lied or gave false testimony and that the defendant was wrongfully arrested.

Challenges

The challenges of having an alleged victim on the stand revolve around the fact that the defendant’s lawyer must combat the testimony by showing the flaws in the case, showing the alleged victim’s bias, and showing inconsistencies in the evidence.

What is Evidence-Based Prosecution?

An evidence-based prosecution is a system in which prosecution of domestic violence in Columbia has reviewed the case and is going to pursue it because they have strong evidence proving the crime charged. These are cases that are strong, and in which the prosecutor pursues the case using the evidence against the defendant.

Defending a Domestic Violence Charge

The defense strategy provided by a Columbia domestic violence lawyer starts with having a very candid conversation with the person charged and having them provide the lawyer with all the information they need to build the best defense possible.

But before that can happen, the accused person must make sure that they are hiring the right lawyer as soon as possible and that the lawyer has the proper training and experience in defending domestic violence cases. Once the lawyer is hired and has all the necessary information, they will conduct their own independent investigation and evaluation of the case. They will start building their defense, contact the necessary witnesses, and look into any other leads that help support the defense.

If someone has made statements and there is evidence that does not support that, then the lawyer has a duty to try to find that evidence and expose it at trial. Once the lawyer has all the information that they need, then they can start building the defense and working out the details.

Importance of Working with a Columbia Domestic Violence Lawyer

It is important to have a lawyer who has a working relationship with the prosecution of domestic violence in Columbia because they will know the tendencies of the prosecutor and their willingness to reduce charges or cut deals. Relationships with prosecutors should not be too close, however, because the defense attorney will need to attack the prosecution’s case aggressively if need be.