Will You Go to Jail for a First Domestic Violence Offense in Arizona?

Phoenix criminal defense attorney David Black discusses the possibility of jail for a first misdemeanor domestic violence conviction in Arizona, factors that may increase the risk, and proactive steps that could help during case negotiations. If you would like additional information on domestic violence, visit us here: https://www.dbphoenixcriminallawyer.c... If you have additional questions about your case, contact us for a free consultation. Chapters: 00:00 First-Offense Domestic Violence Charges 00:18 Is Jail Mandatory for a First DV Conviction? 00:48 When Jail Time Becomes a Concern 01:16 Injuries in Misdemeanor Assault Cases 01:46 Factors That May Increase the Jail Risk 02:04 Counseling and Other Proactive Steps 02:30 Evaluating an Arizona Domestic Violence Case Law Office of David A. Black 40 North Central Avenue Suite 1850 Phoenix, Arizona 85004 480-280-8028 Transcript: This is David Black. I'm a criminal defense lawyer in Phoenix, Arizona. And one of the things we handle a lot of are what we call DV offenses or domestic violence offenses. This may sound weird, but I enjoy representing people charged with DV crimes. And the reason is I feel personally that they are overcharged. For a first offense domestic violence conviction, jail still remains relatively unlikely. Um, I say this for two reasons. A, there's no minimum jail term. It's not like a DUI conviction where you have to do a day if you're convicted of a DUI. You don't have to do any jail. And B, in my experience, I remember all the times through my career that clients have gotten jail on first offense misdemeanor DV cases. When would I be worried about jail? Let's say you have a uh an adult and and a and a child who is also an adult in what appears to be a pretty bad assault. But because one of them is 18 and the other one's 38, you know, it's still a misdemeanor. I would be a little bit concerned about that as uh you know, possible jail time, maybe a day or two. That's a specific memory I have from being a prosecutor, by the way. I maybe the guy got two days. You know, I I think that I think that bad injuries that don't rise to the level of felonies. So So for for injury to cause an assault to become a felony, it has to be uh substantial. It could either be temporary but substantial disfigurement or serious physical injury. But you know, a busted lip, a black eye, um even even a cut, a small cut, a laceration, these are these are misdemeanors. But if they sort of turn the stomach, you know, if an objective person reads the police report and says, "Oh, this is bad." That's when I get a little bit worried about jail. So, uh, if we're worried about jail and some, you know, something is is on the more, uh, I would say emotionally jarring end of the spectrum, then we are going to need to take some other steps. What are things we can do? Well, in that circumstance, the individual probably has some things they need to work on. We can help them get alcohol counseling. We can help them get anger management counseling. You could do all these things before the prosecutor and the defense lawyer us uh are forced to do a trial and trying to get a resolution that doesn't include jail. We can't promise no jail. We are largely largely successful in avoiding jail in these situations. U and we are happy to talk to you about that. If you want to talk about this, feel free to call any qualified law firm or obviously we do plenty of this stuff. Feel free to call me. Our number is 480280828. We have handled dozens and dozens and dozens of these cases successfully, won a ton of them. Uh we have a lot of experience. We're able to analyze the case and give you a really good and accurate understanding of what you can expect. Thank you.