A significant number of our domestic violence cases involve allegations made by accusers who almost instantaneously feel bad and regretful for their role in getting our client arrested.
These are people who during the heat of an argument or while under the influence of alcohol reported being the victim of domestic violence, usually with a greatly exaggerated story. Sometimes they also report that the domestic abuse has happened before. Then by the time bond court comes around just a few hours later they are back in love, are not afraid, and ask to have the charges dropped.
We’ve seen both woman and men act this way where they flip-flop every few hours, days or weeks between being in-love or being in-hate. When they are in-love they will only say great positive things about the defendant or the relationship. Whatever happened was their fault, or equally their fault, and they want to say or do whatever they can to have the charges dropped. When they are in-hate, they switch back to blaming the defendant and want to talk about all the problems in the relationship. They will want to refuse to cooperate with the defense, and will want to encourage the prosecutor to continue with the case, seek jail time, and will want to testify against the defendant in-court.
This presents a special challenge when defending a domestic violence charge. Frequently the best if not the only witness, against our client is the alleged victim who is also the original accuser. When the case first begins they may be back in-love, and willing to cooperate with us on the case. If however they are unstable, they may turn on a dime against our client and then do or say anything they can to hurt their case.
We do enough domestic violence defenses that we’ve seen exactly how this plays out. Because of that we have developed specific legal systems and defense strategies to minimize the risk that this places on our clients. If you think that there is any possibility that the alleged victim in your case can be “hot or cold’ on you or the relationship going forward, then it is important to make sure that protects are put in place for your case.
To learn exactly how we can protect you against this sort of risk contact us for a free consultation. When you do you will be able to meet with an experienced domestic violence defense attorney who can help answer your questions, and then discuss the specific steps that will be undertaken to help you. This frequently involves things done in the first 24, 48, and 72 hours after being hired, moving quickly to protect against the risk causing by a flip-flopping accuser.