Order of Protection Violation Lawyer in Scottsdale, AZ

Many orders enforced in Scottsdale are signed in the same building that hears the criminal charge. Scottsdale City Court takes petitions that begin on AZPOINT, the state's online portal; the petitioner then comes to 75th Street during walk-in hours with a confirmation number and government identification, or calls or emails to be heard remotely, and pays no court fee. After hours, on weekends and on holidays, any police officer can help a petitioner get an emergency order, the court says. Justice courts and Superior Court can issue orders as well, and A.R.S. 13-3602(T) sends a petition to Superior Court whenever a divorce, legal separation, annulment, or paternity or maternity case is pending between the two people.

Service is the first fact to pin down. The court says that since January 1, 2020, each order it grants is passed immediately to law enforcement to be served, and under A.R.S. 13-3602(J), a city court's order goes to that city's police when the defendant can be reached inside the city. A Scottsdale order handed over in Scottsdale therefore often comes with a Scottsdale Police return of service. A.R.S. 13-3602(N) makes the order effective once you receive a copy with the petition, ends it two years after service, and voids an order that sat unserved for a year. We compare the date and time on the return with the timestamp of the alleged contact.

Officers can arrest without having seen anything. Under A.R.S. 13-3602(R), probable cause that an order was violated is enough, with or without a warrant, and any Arizona court can enforce a valid Arizona order wherever in the state the violation happened. If the people involved share a relationship listed in A.R.S. 13-3601(A), the domestic violence arrest rules also apply. On a city charge, a Scottsdale Police arrest can mean booking into the city jail at the 75th Street police station. The Sheriff's Office counts Scottsdale among the cities whose own judges take first appearances on city charges; a defendant held on county charges appears at 2670 S. 28th Dr. in Phoenix instead. Either way, Arizona Rule of Criminal Procedure 4.1 sets a 24-hour limit.

Release after that arrest comes with protective terms by law. A.R.S. 13-3602(S) requires conditions that protect the alleged victim and every other person the order designates, and it has the custodial agency try to alert a victim who asked for notice of the release. That leaves many defendants answering to two documents at once, the civil order and a no-contact condition in the new criminal case, and relief from one does nothing to the other. The civil order can be challenged at a single hearing you request in writing, where the judge may keep, change or quash it; Scottsdale City Court takes hearing requests during weekday business hours. A release condition is revisited only on a motion in the criminal case.

Until both documents are lifted, have no contact with the protected person, including a reply to a message that person started. No calls, texts, posts, gifts, notes or apologies, no plea to drop the charge, and no go-between. Save whatever comes in, leave it unanswered and give it to your lawyer.

The criminal charge is interfering with judicial proceedings under A.R.S. 13-2810, a class 1 misdemeanor and the offense the warning on each order spells out. Because A.R.S. 13-3601(A) lists that statute, a qualifying relationship adds the DV designation. A Scottsdale Police case from inside city limits is generally handled by the city's Prosecution Division, whose misdemeanor list opens with domestic violence, and heard at Scottsdale City Court, while DPS and Sheriff's Office reports can be routed to a county justice court. Felony versions belong to the County Attorney in Superior Court downtown. Aggravated harassment is one, if the State alleges harassment of the protected person while a served, valid order was in force. Aggravated domestic violence, a class 5 felony, is another, if the State alleges a third or later DV offense within 84 months.

Do not assume the court will appoint you a lawyer. Arizona Rule of Criminal Procedure 6.1(b) entitles an indigent defendant to appointed counsel in a proceeding that may result in punishment by loss of liberty. In misdemeanor court, the prosecutor can avow that no jail will be requested and the judge can rule that no jail will be imposed, and once that happens, there is no right to appointed counsel at all. Arizona's Court of Appeals upheld exactly that in Campa v. Fleming, 134 Ariz. 330 (App. 1982).

Scottsdale City Court's criminal case page sets two conditions for a public defender: a case that qualifies, for example one where the prosecutor seeks jail, and a defendant who qualifies financially. The form comes from the courtroom clerk at the arraignment or a pretrial conference.

Avoiding jail is not the same as avoiding a conviction. A misdemeanor DV conviction requires an offender treatment program under A.R.S. 13-3601.01, paid for by the defendant and reported back to the court, and another DV conviction within 60 months can bring supervised probation with jail as a condition. An order with a credible threat finding can bar buying or possessing firearms for as long as it lasts, federal law (18 U.S.C. 922(g)(8)) separately restricts possession under certain orders issued after a hearing the person had notice of and a chance to join, and probation for a DV offense makes a person a prohibited possessor under A.R.S. 13-3101. A noncitizen should get immigration advice before any plea.

Call (480) 405-6767. Booked overnight, facing an arraignment on 75th Street, or holding a message you should not answer? A phone call gets to us faster than the form.

Nova Law Group, PLLC, 4455 E. Camelback Rd., Suite C250, Phoenix, AZ 85018. Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., by appointment.

Courts and offices: Scottsdale City Court, 3700 N. 75th St., Scottsdale, AZ 85251, 480-312-2442 (protective order petitions and hearing requests Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; 8:30 a.m. opening on the first and third Wednesday). Scottsdale City Attorney, Prosecution Division, 480-312-2710. City of Scottsdale Jail, Downtown Scottsdale Police Station (District 2), 3700 N. 75th St., Scottsdale, AZ 85251. McDowell Mountain Justice Court, 18380 N. 40th St., Suite 130, Phoenix, AZ 85032, 602-372-7000. Maricopa County Intake, Transfer and Release (Initial Appearance Court), 2670 S. 28th Dr., Phoenix, AZ 85009. Maricopa County Superior Court, downtown criminal complex: Central Court Building, 201 W. Jefferson St., and South Court Tower, 175 W. Madison St., Phoenix, AZ 85003.