San Diego Domestic Violence Defense Lawyer

What To Do if Charged With Domestic Violence

Video Transcript:

Mark Deniz: 

What you wanna do is basically make them stand down, if at all possible to... Or if anything, make them come in with reduced charges and filter those charges in before you even walk into court.

Tom Mustin: 

How can a lawyer help if you're accused of domestic violence? We're gonna talk to attorney Mark Deniz about that on today's Ask The Lawyer. Mark, thank you for joining us.

Mark Deniz: 

Great to be here.

Tom Mustin: 

Great to have you. So, what is your experience representing people accused of domestic violence in San Diego, and how do you see these situations typically play out, lead to an arrest?

Mark Deniz: 

Yeah, I've been practicing now, getting close to 20 years, and I spent almost 10 years of that as a prosecutor, including time on the domestic violence, the family protection unit here in San Diego. Domestic violence is one of the more serious charge that an individual can face. What you wanna do is, it really stems from a dynamic in a relationship that happens often. People fight, and sometimes, and I will say often, they get over-done and they get overblown, and I think because of the system is so knee-jerk to make an arrest, a lot of people who did not commit domestic violence or just actually was in a very bad fight can end up being swept up in a domestic violence arrest.

Tom Mustin: 

So, what can be done immediately after an arrest for a person who's in this situation?

Mark Deniz: 

Yeah, so the arrest... If you can imagine someone has a file and they have their name on that, and it makes its way... The file makes its way through a few different junctions, if you will. I always look at it as a train track, it goes from a patrol officer to a detective, inevitably to a district attorney, and to the courthouse. What you can do is, you find good quality representation to contact immediately the police agencies, to the prosecution, in hopes, and with a working goal that your file never makes its way to that final destination at the courthouse. You let them know your side of the story. Let them know who they're gonna be looking at potentially to file charges with.

Mark Deniz: 

You... The prosecutor at the time, if they're just reading police reports, all they see is a booking photo of the individual and a police report. What you wanna do is say, this person, here's to their character. This is their lack of aggression, or this is their lack of violence that they've had in their past. This is who they are. And coupled with that individual's character, with the attorney knowing that the prosecution, if they know that this person, this attorney knows this field of the law, what you wanna do is basically make them stand down, if at all possible to... Or if anything, make them come in with reduced charges and filter those charges in before you even walk into court. So I know it... Like with us, we like to walk in, or at least when we pick up a case, we always start off with not wanting the case issued and getting it dead and on arrival.

Tom Mustin: 

And you touched on this a bit, Mark, but what are some of the common issues or factors that an attorney can put in a mitigation packet and tell us why?

Mark Deniz: 

Yeah, so the mitigation packets, or we call character packets, but these are basically presentations and introductions of the characters that are in the police report. It'll have a little bit about who that individual is, it will explain who the complaining witness is, is it an ex girlfriend who is jealous? Was it just a fight that got bad? Were they... Was it a loving couple that just went out that night and maybe had a little bit to drink, both of them and they... And the neighbors call. What you wanna do is have all that information, you explain a little bit about your side of the story to them, and it helps provide context. So when they're reading that police report, they're not coming to their own conclusions, but they are seeing the backstory that usually starts off, because the police report just says, I arrived at a location rather than saying, this is how the whole night went through, or this has been going on in the last few weeks. And you wanna provide that, and that's a really good working approach to getting that best possible outcome on a case.

Tom Mustin: 

And I know you have a lot of experience handling cases like this, but what if the accuser doesn't wanna press charges, can the prosecution still move forward then?

Mark Deniz: 

Yeah, that's a good question. In the old days, they used to be... The prosecution and the police would say, did you wanna file charges? And when that person declined to file charges, they would walk away, inevitably no charges were filed, and the person was good to go on its way. Over the years they saw that with abuse victims that they ended up going into a situation where they saw that people that were informing of abuse would... For one reason or another, maybe someone would lose their job, they would decline to file charges. Well, in California, basically, the prosecution has taken that choice away, basically, because they believe that that person could be abused. So, it's a factor whether they decide to file charges, whether that person wants to... Whether the prosecutor takes into consideration. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't, but the reality is, if somebody does not wanna file charges, that does not stop the prosecution from filing charges.

Tom Mustin: 

What's the difference between a misdemeanor domestic violence charge and a felony domestic violence charge in California, and what are the potential punishments there?

Mark Deniz: 

Yeah, they're both very serious charges. I mean, any time you have domestic violence, even at the lower misdemeanor levels, it can have a lot of ramifications. So, a felony obviously is one that someone could do prison. Usually, if it's in the domestic violence felony range, it's gonna be potentially a strike offense. We're talking that the ramifications and the consequences on those are far-reaching. You could be talking about felonies, prison time. There's gonna be classes involved with the felonies. With misdemeanors now, you're still gonna have your classes, but the likelihood of jail time is less.

Tom Mustin: 

So, how long does a domestic violence charge stay on a person's record, is it there forever or does it eventually go away?

Mark Deniz: 

It stays on forever. And that's... And not only is it a... It's a very rough charge to have on the record. It has its own stigma to it, but then it has far-reaching effects. For one, it's much more difficult to expunge, to reduce. I know it has weapons, lifetime weapons charges that you have a lifetime weapons ban. So, even the most de minimis misdemeanor charge could have lifelong effects.

Tom Mustin: 

So, what if the case then proceeds to a criminal trial, and it's not dismissed or no plea agreement can be reached, what happens then?

Mark Deniz: 

Yeah, so if you present a character packet and then you review the evidence, you examine the evidence, and you litigate with the prosecution the facts of the case, you tell them your side of the story and at the end of it, they still decide that they're gonna proceed with the prosecution, they believe that they can prove those cases or prove the charges, you wanna call them out on it. The reality is, in most cases, it benefits the individual to challenge the prosecution and go to jury trial. So what would happen is, if you work with your client and you see that it cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, you wanna get that matter set for trial. And in California, most charges results... I believe it's a 93% conviction rate, for most charges that go to jury trial. Domestic violence is different and the charges are... The odds are much better, especially if you have a good proven approach and a good defense.

Tom Mustin: 

Mark, a lot of fantastic information. We really appreciate you joining us today, thank you so much.

Mark Deniz: 

Thank you. It's been a pleasure.

Tom Mustin: 

Great to talk to you. And that's gonna do it for this episode of Ask The Lawyer. My guest has been Mark Deniz. If you wanna ask Mark a question about your situation, call the number on the screen. Thanks for watching. I'm Tom Mustin for Ask The Lawyers.

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