Domestic Violence Lawyer Explains: What Counts as a Domestic Violence Offense?

Phoenix criminal defense attorney David Black explains how Arizona domestic violence allegations can involve more than physical violence, including disorderly conduct, harassment, property damage, and certain communications. He also discusses possible penalties and collateral consequences of a misdemeanor DV conviction. If you would like additional information on domestic violence; visit our site: https://www.dbphoenixcriminallawyer.c... Chapters: 00:00 Domestic Violence Charges in Arizona 00:20 Why DV Offenses May Be Overcharged 00:48 Professionals Facing Domestic Violence Charges 01:23 Disorderly Conduct and Domestic Violence 01:55 DV Charges Without Physical Violence 02:32 Arizona’s Broad Definition of Domestic Violence 03:07 Unexpected Examples of DV Allegations 03:36 Misdemeanor Domestic Violence Penalties 04:07 Counseling and Collateral Consequences 04:32 Evaluating an Arizona DV 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. So on the one hand we do have what would be considered an obvious DV offense and that would be you know a real serious assault and and you know serious physical injury and what you would imagine uh but that is not what we usually receive. Certainly we we handle those cases but but more often than that we get phone calls from people who are professionals. They may be an administrator at a large, you know, Fortune 500 company or they may be a physician or or a lawyer themselves or maybe an athlete and they drank too much and they got in an argument with their spouse and the city attorney has picked up a case and they've been charged with a crime. So, uh, they they have on a piece of paper, uh, what says, you know, disorderly conduct, domestic violence, and and they're confused and they're scared, and I get that. But essentially what what that means is that, uh, somebody was unruly. They were seriously disruptive. They disturbed the peace of another. And that other was somebody who who in this case is their spouse, let's say, or their child. You know, my personal opinion is that uh is that domestic violence should be reserved for what most people think of as domestic violence, violence, but it's not. Uh it can include disturbing the peace of somebody else. It can include harassing somebody verbally. It can include getting angry and punching a wall, you know, which is not good. And I think there's probably some research to suggest that that is a sign of of possible physical violence. But it's also a lot better than punching another person, right? And so, uh, I I enjoy these cases because I also find that that it's never as simple as we would think. So, so somebody gets charged with domestic violence and they're like, I am not a domestic abuser. And that's because we think in our heads uh of somebody who has a scared little wife who they keep in a closet and they abuse, you know, regularly or or consistently abuses and starves their children. I mean, that's that that's the imagery that that domestic violence evokes, at least for me, and I know for a lot of the people that call me. Come to find out, no, no, no. We've created this incredibly huge umbrella of crimes that can be domestic violence. I'm trying to think of some of the weirdest domestic violence crimes I've had. I've had people breaking into their own house, getting charged with criminal damage for domestic violence. I've had people, you know, texting their spouse getting charged with domestic violence. Um, it's it's all over the map. But the good news is that if we're if we're talking about misdemeanor DV cases, I mean, here are the possible consequences. So, there are some mandatory minimum penalties for domestic violence offenses. For example, somebody gets convicted of disorderly conduct. Disorderly conduct in Arizona is a class one misdemeanor. It carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $2,500 fine plus search charges. Disorderly conduct carries no minimum penalty. You can go to trial on disorderly conduct. You can get convicted and the judge can say, "Mr. Black, you're guilty of disorderly conduct. Have a good day." That's your punishment. Now, if it's disorderly conduct, domestic violence, there is suddenly a minimum mandatory penalty. Um, there are a couple of costs that are involved. They're minimal, but there's counseling. domestic violence offender treatment. There are also some collateral consequences that we need to to understand as a result of being convicted of a domestic violence offense. Um, these are ::truncated::