The penalties for domestic violence can be severe. They can include imprisonment, exclusion from the family home, changes in your ability to spend time with your children and other members of your family, an order to pay financial support, damage to your reputation, and impacts on your ability to find or keep a job or housing.
An accusation of domestic violence is often enough to justify an arrest by a local police officer. Generally, there are two parts to domestic violence charges. The first part includes the issuance of temporary and permanent protective orders. The second part involves any related crime, such as sexual assault, date rape, or many other offenses.
What are the grounds for filing a domestic violence complaint in Maryland?
Domestic violence involves complaints by:
- Current or former spouses
- Relations by blood, marriage, or adoptions – and step-relations
- Cohabitants (generally people who have lived together in a sexual relationship for at least 90 days in the past year)
- The parents of a common child
- Vulnerable adults
- Rape or sexual assault victims (including attempts) by the accused within the prior six months
- Other qualifying complainants
The complainant can see a protective order if they assert any of the following abusive acts:
- Assault
- Fear of imminent serious bodily harm
- Acts that cause serious bodily harm
- Rape or sexual offenses (or attempts)
- False imprisonment
- Stalking
- Revenge porn
Why do complainants make false accusations of domestic violence?
Some victims make false accusations out of anger, personal revenge, or to obtain a legal advantage in a custody case or a contested divorce. Making a false accusation is not only improper, it’s also generally illegal.
A false accusation is a statement by a person claiming to be a victim of domestic violence that a defendant engaged in one or many abusive acts (as we discussed above). False accusations can be intentional or even accidental. In all domestic violence cases for protective orders, the complaint has the burden of proving the accuracy of their accusations.
- Intentional false accusations. This type of accusation occurs when your spouse or anyone else who files a complaint knows full well that they are not telling the truth when they call the police and file a complaint. Deliberate false accusations are usually calculated to cause defendants the harm of having to worry about and defend the charges against them and help the complainant gain strategic advantage in a family law case – such as custody, child support, marital support, or divorce.
- Unintentional false accusations. These accusations are due to miscommunications, misunderstandings, false impressions, or false conclusions – that are not deliberate. A victim is more likely to read the defendant incorrectly if there is a prior history of abuse or in the heat of any dispute where their judgment is rushed – seeing domestic misconduct when a defendant’s contact is appropriate.
What should you do when false accusations of domestic violence occur?
If you are found guilty of any underlying criminal charges, you will have a criminal record and may be imprisoned. The filing of the domestic violence charges alone (before any hearing) can affect your relationships with every member of your family. Employers who run background checks may see criminal convictions or protective orders in your name.
Our first and primary suggestion is to call our experienced criminal defense lawyer immediately. We can explain your rights and what practical steps you can take to help show that the accusations against you are false. These steps include:
- Keeping your composure
- Avoiding showing that you are angry
- Avoiding getting into any confrontations with anyone
- Obtaining any available documentation to verify your position
- Identifying the people who support your claim
- Reviewing what happened – and what didn’t happen
We can take care of the legal steps, including filing the appropriate legal responses, requesting a full hearing of the charges against you, questioning the accuser, presenting the testimony of everyone who can help support the true accusations, arguing your legal rights, and seeking the denial of any protective order request.
False accusations are illegal
Our lawyer makes it clear that the consequences of false accusations may include more than just a denial of their request for a protective order. While the facts of each case vary, generally, if a complainant makes intentional false accusations, the complainant can face their own criminal charges that may include imprisonment, fines, and a criminal record.
In many false accusation cases, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Parts of the allegations are true, and parts are false. Our lawyer is skilled at showing judges where the dividing lines are and that the untruthful parts of the accusations need to be considered evidence about the accuser’s credibility and requests—as much as the truths are relevant.
At Drew Cochran, Attorney at Law, we have more than 20 years of experience fighting for people who face any type of criminal charge, including domestic violence. To assert your defenses in a false accusation of domestic violence case, call our experienced Annapolis and Ellicott City criminal defense lawyer or fill out our contact form to schedule a consultation.
And remember: Keep Calm – and Call Drew.
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