Defending Charges of Domestic Violence

Defending Domestic Violence Charges in Orange County, California

Defending yourself against charges of domestic violence can be difficult. Whether you are involved in a Restraining Order hearing or charged with Domestic Violence, you may feel like the legal system — including the judge and the prosecutor — is stacked against you. In today’s politically-charged climate as pertains to domestic violence allegations, you may well be right. There are significant pressures for prosecutors to come down HARD on defendants charged with Domestic Violence. A competent California Domestic Violence Attorney can often protect you from the harsh consequences of conviction.

In the matter of a Restraining Order hearing, the alleged victim does not have to show any physical evidence. The victim’s mere words could result in the issuance of a California Restraining Order against you. If you violate that court order, you will be arrested and charged with a crime.

If you are confronted with criminal charges for Domestic Violence in California, you face a legal system that is both hostile and suspicious of anyone accused of domestic abuse. The police officer who arrested you may have written a report that is potentially riddled with errors. The prosecutor may be proceeding with charges against you even if the “victim” has requested that the charges be dropped.

Get the Vigorous Defense You Need

The good news for people accused of this crime is that a successful defense against a Domestic Violence charge is possible. My name is Sergio J. Lopez, founder of SJL Law Group. Me and my team have successfully defended many defendants from charges of domestic violence. We are a dedicated group of aggressive litigators who are determined to pursue a positive outcome for our cherished clients. Our goal is to protect your freedom and your future.

How Do We Protect Your Rights in a Domestic Violence Case?

Our first job is to delineate fact from fiction. We will begin the defense process by investigating the events leading up to your arrest. We will carefully go through the police report looking for discrepancies in the facts or other evidence that could help in your defense. If necessary, we will interview witnesses and collect additional information to bolster your case.

Interestingly, an estimated 60 to 70% of domestic violence charges are based on statements alone. As experienced Orange County criminal defense lawyers, we know how to fight your criminal case. We are aggressive trial lawyers who will work to build a strong and effective defense on your behalf.

What Defenses Can we raise to a Domestic Violence Charge?

There are a number of defenses we can raise on your behalf. The most common defenses are:

  • Self defense: You acted in defense of your physical safety
  • Necessity: You acted out of necessity (e.g. to protect a child)
  • Justification: You acted with legal justification
  • Factual defenses: You did not batter the alleged victim, no crime occurred


Additionally, I may be able to effectively raise a defense based on constitutional grounds (example: 4th, 5th and 6th Amendment defenses) if the police did not read you your rights during an interrogation, violated your right to counsel or conducted an illegal search or seizure.

Why Experienced Criminal Defense Attorneys Can Get Results

Prosecutors in Orange County know that when an experienced defense attorney represents a defendant in a criminal case, that the defendant and their attorney means business: they are serious.  We actually enjoy handling Domestic Violence cases because we know that many of these unfortunate cases are often the result of a simple squabble that was then blown completely out of proportion from what actually happened.

California’s laws against Domestic Violence are well intentioned, but they often create a tremendous number of cases that never should have reached the point of arrest, let alone the filing of criminal charges. This is becoming common place – but your charges are NO LESS serious! In the state of California, a police officer is virtually required to make an arrest when they are called out to a home and allegations of abuse have been made. This is true even if the alleged victim recants, or if the alleged abuse was nothing more than the slightest touch or the altercation was entirely mutual in nature.

Interestingly, when an experienced lawyer takes the time to investigate what actually happened, often times the prosecution’s case will unravel in some way, shape or form.

Aggressively Defending Your Rights When Charged with Domestic Violence

As a defendant, you have rights — and we will aggressively defend those rights.

If you retain us to handle your case, we will take the time to listen to you, determine what actually happened, and then create an aggressive plan of action that is personalized to you. If you contact us right away, we will attempt to negotiate with the detective and the prosecutor to attempt to get the charges lessened, or the whole case dismissed. If the prosecutor insists on going forward and want to prosecute you with the resources of the state we can prepare for the possibility of trial.

Fortunately, in most of the cases we handle, we are able to convince the prosecution to be much more reasonable than they were willing to be at the outset of the case. Most prosecutors will eventually offer a reasonable deal, or even drop the case, if they understand what really happened and if they understand that your attorney has the willingness and trial skills to aggressively defend your rights at trial and they aren’t looking at a “simple win” for their annual review and resume.