Chester County Gun Charges
Protective orders that come into play when dealing with domestic violence cases in Chester County. It involves the petitioner seeking, and the courts granting, a protection from the abuse order which is a civil order that disallows a defendant from cohabitating, coming near, or having any sort of connection with a complainant, whether it be by social media, telephone, contact and even texting. Protection from abuse orders is the most common when dealing with domestic violence. Additionally, criminal courts can order stay-away orders as a condition of bail. In those cases, stay-aways are required for an accused to post bail and continue to be out on bail, while the charges move through the system. Stay-away orders and protection from abuse orders are the most commonly used when allegations of domestic abuse come into play. For more information on how these orders work, contact an accomplished Chester County domestic violence lawyer.
Violating a Protective Order
Once a court of common pleas judge has placed a protection from abuse order into legal effect, it disallows one individual from going near or contacting the other individual. Once that is in effect and the accused violates, or there is an allegation that the accused has violated the protection from abuse order, a contempt for PSA charge can be put together by the prosecution and a criminal matter is in effect. The initial civil protection from abuse order now becomes a criminal contempt of court order and the individual charged with such now faces a second criminal matter in court. Violating a Chester County protective order can be serious, so contact a lawyer immediately.
Child Custody and Visitation
Once an individual has been charged criminally with domestic violence, then visitation or other contacts may not proceed. However, in limited cases, when simultaneous civil actions - that is child custody or spousal actions are filed in civil court, (often the family courts of Chester County) in conjunction with the criminal court, certain exemptions to the stay-away order can be put in place.
A civil court can order that a defendant be allowed to visit their children and a spouse and in some cases can drop the child off and pick the child off so long as both parties agree. Additionally, such orders must be then carried from the civil court over to the criminal court so that no contempt of such orders comes into place without limited contact. In any case of domestic violence, specifications of exactly what happens and requirements of exactly what to do can always be placed in conjunction with a protection from abuse order. Conditions can be revised with the help of an experienced Chester County protective order attorney by a person’s side and exemptions to protection from abuse and stay-away orders can be had.
Who Violence is Conflicted On
When two spouses are involved in some sort of domestic violence, the other spouse, with the permission of the court, may petition to see the children while the ongoing matter occurs. However, when the domestic violence is between a parent and a child, then visitation is often disallowed. The best interest of the child is taken into account and the parties must be kept away from one another to protect the child’s interests. Additionally, depending on the facts of a particular case, certain other requirements can be placed on protection from abuse orders or lifted from protection from abuse orders. Each case is fact specific and each party is specific for the circumstances of their own case. It is with the use of both the civil family court in Chester County and the criminal courts in Chester County, simultaneously, that a matter can be resolved in visitation or contact can be added. Talk to a Chester County protective order lawyer for more information.