Birmingham Domestic Violence Attorney
Protecting Your Rights Throughout the Legal Process
Joe Ingram Law, LLC is an experienced law firm that understands the realities of domestic violence laws in Alabama. If you have been charged with domestic violence, it is crucial that you take those charges seriously. Domestic violence cases are most often the result of inflamed emotional disputes between parties that live together.
We will work quickly and efficiently to resolve your issues, aiming for the most favorable outcomes. Our Birmingham domestic violence attorney respects your needs and concerns and never takes them for granted. This is a firm that is available to provide thorough legal representation for domestic violence charges in the municipal, state, and federal courts of Alabama.
Understanding Domestic Violence Charges in Jefferson County
Each state approaches domestic violence charges and convictions in a different way. In Alabama, domestic violence is qualified by the type of relationship that the involved parties share, which influences the prosecution strategy, potential defenses, and the possible penalties, fines, and other punishments.
In order for a crime to qualify as domestic violence in Alabama, the relationship between those involved must be:
- Current or former spouses
- Parent and child
- Parents of a child in common
- Present or former household members
- Persons who have or had a dating relationship
The context of these relationships plays a critical role, as our domestic violence defense team considers how best to approach each unique situation. By understanding the finer points of these charges, our domestic violence lawyer can craft a more effective defense strategy.
Exploring the Degrees of Domestic Violence in Alabama
Alabama breaks its domestic violence crimes down into three different degrees. The degree of domestic violence with which you are charged depends on the circumstances and severity of the incident.
The three degrees of domestic violence in Alabama are:
- 1st degree: This type of charge is made when you are accused of first-degree assault or aggravated stalking against the victim. If convicted, you could serve at least one year in prison without consideration of probation or parole.
- 2nd degree: This type of charge is made when you are accused of second-degree assault, intimidating a witness, stalking, second- or third-degree burglary, or first-degree criminal mischief against the victim. If convicted, you could serve at least six months in prison without consideration of probation or parole.
- 3rd degree: This type of charge is made when you are accused of third-degree assault, menacing, reckless endangerment, criminal coercion, harassment, criminal surveillance, harassing communications, third-degree criminal trespass, second- or third-degree criminal mischief, or third-degree arson against the victim. If convicted, you could serve at least 30 days without consideration of reduction in time. If you receive a second conviction, you could serve at least 10 days in a city or county jail. Any convictions after that are no longer misdemeanors; they are felonis.
Our Birmingham Domestic Violence Attorney can listen to your side of the story and assess the charges against you before crafting the appropriate legal strategies to defend you from harsh sentences and punishments. We focus on examining all evidence meticulously, ensuring no detail goes unchallenged.
Other domestic violence charges our lawyer can defend against include:
- Domestic violence by strangulation: This type of charge is made when you are accused of committing assault or menacing by strangulation or suffocation against the victim. Such charges carry severe penalties, hence the necessity of a strong defense.
- Violation of a protective order: This type of charge is made when you are accused of refusing to obey a protective order (i.e. a restraining order). If convicted, you could serve up to a year in jail and pay a fine of up to $6,000. Further convictions could result in longer stays in jail.
