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Battery – Family Violence in Georgia

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If you or a loved one is arrested for Family Violence Battery in Georgia, it is important that you act immediately to protect yourself. Do not wait until your court date to get an attorney and to preserve evidence. 

Georgia Criminal Code § 16-5-23.1 defines domestic violence as whenever a battery, an intentional physical harm or visible bodily harm, is committed against “past or present spouses, persons who are parents of the same child, parents and children, stepparents and stepchildren, foster parents and foster children, or other persons living or formerly living in the same household.”

Punishment

First Conviction: Upon a first conviction of family violence battery, the defendant shall be guilty of and punished for a misdemeanor, a jail sentence can be imposed of up to twelve months and courts will require defendant’s to take a 24 week Family Violence Intervention Program throughout probation. 

Second Conviction: A second or subsequent conviction of family violence battery against the same or another victim, the defendant shall be guilty of a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than five years.

There are also immigration concerns if you are not a U.S. Citizen. 

It should be noted, domestic violence is a “deportable” offense, if you are not a U.S. citizen and are convicted it can lead to serious immigration consequence.

Do not think that just because you are innocent that the charges will be dismissed. Family Violence Battery charges are aggressively prosecuted in Georgia. 

Here is what you should do if arrested for Family Violence Battery in Georgia. 

  1. Hire an attorney – Make sure that attorney actually handles and tries Family Violence Battery cases.  Make sure the attorney you talk to does regularly handles Family Violence Battery cases in Georgia. 
  2. Avoid making any statements – Do not walk into the police department and profess your innocence. The police will not believe you. Do not think you can show up at your first court date and tell the prosecutor and judge that you are innocent and expect the charges to be
    dropped. If you are arrested for Family Violence Battery, you have to start preparing
    for your jury trial. Do not make any statements to anyone except your lawyer. 
  3. Gather and preserve any physical evidence in your possession that might relate to the person making the accusation. This includes clothing, photos, video or any other tangible object.
  4. Gather and preserve any documents that might relate to this accusation including emails, texts, social media, phone records, GPS records, computer records or any other document that might show where you were when this incident allegedly occurred. 
  5. Witnesses – Immediately make a list of any person who you think might have information about this Family Violence Battery accusation.Do not discuss the case with this person but pass this list of potential witnesses to your attorney and let your attorney contact them. 

Here is what you should never do if arrested for Family Violence Battery in Georgia

  1. Never talk to the alleged victim or the family.
  2. Never have any contact with the alleged victim
    through a 3rd party or through social media.
  3. Never talk to law enforcement without an
    attorney present.

If you are arrested for Family Violence Battery in Fulton, Gwinnett, Cobb, Dekalb, Clayton or any other county in the metro Atlanta area, please call our office 24/7 at 404-581-0999. We will sit down with you and fully discuss your case and what to expect in court. There is no charge for this consultation. You will only retain us if you feel we are the best law firm to represent you. It is your life so you need to hire the lawyer that you feel gives you the best chance to win your case.