Stalking and Harassment Lawyer in Tempe, AZ

Four related offenses sit under this heading, on two different tracks. Harassment under A.R.S. 13-2921(A) is a class 1 misdemeanor. So is threatening or intimidating under A.R.S. 13-1202 in its basic form, which covers a threat by word or conduct to hurt someone or seriously damage their property; a threat made in retaliation for reporting crime, or by a criminal street gang member, becomes a class 6 felony. Stalking under A.R.S. 13-2923 has no misdemeanor version: it is class 5, or class 3 when the alleged fear was of death. Aggravated harassment under A.R.S. 13-2921.01 is class 6 or class 5.

The misdemeanors stay in the city when Tempe Police wrote the report. The Criminal Division of the Tempe City Attorney's Office, which calls itself the Prosecutor's Office and works from Suite 301 at 140 E. Fifth Street, prosecutes misdemeanors that happen inside Tempe, under state statutes and the Tempe City Code alike. Those cases are heard downstairs at Tempe Municipal Court. The felonies leave Fifth Street: the Maricopa County Attorney's Office generally reviews and charges them, and hearings take place at Superior Court in the downtown criminal complex. Confirm the building on your current notice.

Tempe Police's Investigations Division lists a Violent Crimes Section and a Major Crimes Section, but its page does not say which unit takes stalking reports. Treat any detective's call as part of an investigation.

A lot of these matters open on the civil side. Tempe Municipal Court's protective orders page walks petitioners through AZPOINT, the state's online interview that builds the forms, and offers public access terminals in the court's first-floor lobby, with paper petitions available on request and a reminder that the court closes at 5 p.m. The court describes an order of protection as an order issued to stop domestic violence. Between people who are not partners, relatives or household members, the civil tool is usually an injunction against harassment under A.R.S. 12-1809. Neither one is a criminal charge.

Service is what gives an order teeth. Under A.R.S. 13-3602(N), an order of protection becomes effective on the defendant once a copy of the order and petition is served, runs two years from service, and expires if it is never served within a year of issue. A.R.S. 12-1809(J) sets one year from service for an injunction against harassment. While either is in force, the restrained person is entitled to one hearing on written request, at no fee. Anything said at that hearing can come back in a criminal case, so prepare for both at once.

Once a valid order has been served, harassing the protected person becomes aggravated harassment, a felony. The same is true while an emergency order is in effect or while a release condition bars any contact, and it applies when there is an earlier conviction for a DV listed offense against the same person. The service paperwork and the exact words of the order often decide whether a later message is a misdemeanor, a felony or nothing at all.

After an arrest, Rule 4.1 requires an initial appearance within 24 hours. A person booked into the county jail on a felony stalking or aggravated harassment allegation sees a judge at the Intake, Transfer and Release facility, 2670 S. 28th Dr. When setting release, A.R.S. 13-3967(B)(1) has the judge take into account the views of the alleged victim. If you are released, keep the paper: Tempe Municipal Court says the release order carries your next court date.

Here is the plain rule while any order or no-contact term is in place: do not contact the protected person. That means no calls, texts, emails, comments, likes, tags, letters, gifts or apologies, and no messages passed along by a friend, a sibling or a mutual follower. If that person reaches out first, do not answer. Save the message and show it to your lawyer.

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).

Avoiding jail is not the same as avoiding a conviction. Each of the four offenses appears in the domestic violence list at A.R.S. 13-3601(A), so a qualifying relationship adds the DV designation. A conviction for a listed offense can then become the prior that turns a new harassment allegation involving the same person into a class 5 felony. A DV probation term, or any felony conviction until rights are restored, makes someone a prohibited possessor under A.R.S. 13-3101. If you are not a U.S. citizen, get immigration advice before any plea.