Domestic Violence
Arizona takes domestic violence charges very seriously. Even if the claim of abuse is false, you will most likely be arrested so it is vital to retain the legal help of a criminal defense attorney. All it takes is for someone to make a single claim or report of domestic violence for an investigation to be launched.
According to A.R.S. §13-3601, domestic violence in Arizona relates to one of the following offenses committed by an aggressor whose relationship to the victim is protected by the domestic violence laws:
- Assault or aggravated assault
- Child or vulnerable adult abuse, or emotional abuse
- Criminal trespassing
- Custodial interference
- Dangerous crimes against children
- Disorderly conduct
- Endangerment
- Harassment or aggravated harassment
- Interference with judicial proceedings
- Kidnapping
- Negligent homicide, manslaughter or murder
- Preventing use of a telephone in an emergency or false representation of an emergency
- Sexual assault
- Stalking
- Surreptitiously photographing, videotaping, filming, or digitally recording or viewing
- Threatening or intimidating a witness
- Unlawful imprisonment
- Use of telephone to terrify, intimidate, threaten, harass, annoy or offend
Domestic violence occurs when one of the above crimes is committed among persons who share one of the following relationships:
- Are current or former spouses
- Persons who reside or used to reside in the same household
- Persons who have a child together
- The defendant or the victim is pregnant by the other party
- The victim is related to the defendant or defendant’s spouse by blood or court order as a parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, brother or sister, or by marriage as a parent-in-law, grandparent-in-law, stepparent, step-grandparent, stepchild, step-grandchild, brother-in-law or sister-in-law
- The victim is a child who resides or resided in the same household as the defendant and is related by blood to a former spouse of the defendant or to a person who has resided in the same household as the defendant
- The defendant and victim are or were in a romantic or sexual relationship
If domestic violence allegations have been made against you, working with an experienced defense attorney should be your priority. Snell & Wilmer’s criminal defense attorneys know that a domestic violence conviction can irreparably change your life, affecting your lifestyle and the role you have in your children’s lives. For this reason, we work very hard to defend those who have been falsely accused of domestic violence.
Our domestic violence and spousal abuse defense attorney team includes, among others, a former U.S. Attorney, a former federal agency Inspector General, several former federal and state prosecutors, a former Trial Attorney with the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and former Judge Advocates from every branch of the military service. The firm is widely recognized and can leverage resources to address complex and sensitive issues.
