Q: I was charged with the family violence act by the state. this is my first time in trouble. What happens now?
My spouse and I got into an altercation that we involved the cops to mediate but turned into me being arrested as the aggressor. I was bonded out and told to make no contact with the victim i.e. my spouse I was also told by a couple cops that I could have my spouse overturn the no contact order by going to victims advocate and ask them to change it from violent to a non-violent contact order. what are my options for the future? I don’t have a criminal record, my spouse and I agree that our fight escalated because of my mental illness and not taking my bipolar disorder medication. I don’t know if I should let my lawyer know about my medical condition and how I abruptly stop my medication when I’m not supposed to. my spouse doesn’t want to press charges and we know that the charges are out of their hands. What is to expect the day of the court hearing I was told that the court hearing could be two years out. I just wanna know the steps I need to take and the Consequences
A:
You need to be open and honest with your attorney, as the medication issue is HUGE when it comes to mitigation. Your Spouse can also use that information to press the State to treat you properly as much as she does not control whether the state presses charges or not. She may also be able to use spousal privilege to limit the State's ability to proceed with the case, and thats important to speak with your attorney about as well.
Your attorney should work quickly to address the special condition of bond preventing contact, and if you are not getting the response you need you may need to have a heart-t0-heart with your attorney regarding what you expect from them. At the same time, the state loves special conditions of bond for a reason, and they love using them.
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