Order of Protection Violation Lawyer in Tempe, AZ

Start with where the order came from, because it may not be the court hearing your charge. Tempe Municipal Court issues orders of protection, and its protective orders page describes the process a petitioner follows: a guided AZPOINT interview completed online or at kiosks downstairs in the courthouse, paper forms for anyone who asks, and a note that the doors close at 5 p.m. Other Arizona courts issue orders as well, including Superior Court when a family case is pending, so read the caption at the top of yours.

The Tempe court defines an order of protection as an order meant to stop a person from committing domestic violence. People who are not partners, relatives or household members usually see an injunction against harassment instead, under A.R.S. 12-1809. Both carry a printed warning that disobeying the order can lead to arrest and prosecution for interfering with judicial proceedings and for any other crime committed in the process.

Service decides when the order binds you. Under A.R.S. 13-3602(N), an order of protection starts to bind the defendant on service of the order together with the petition, it runs two years from that date, and it expires if nobody serves it within a year of issue. An injunction against harassment lasts one year from service under A.R.S. 12-1809(J). The service return, its date and the exact terms often become the center of a Tempe case.

The criminal charge is interfering with judicial proceedings under A.R.S. 13-2810, which covers knowingly disobeying or resisting a lawful court order. It is a class 1 misdemeanor. Because 13-2810 appears in the domestic violence list at A.R.S. 13-3601(A), the complaint can carry a DV designation when the two people share a qualifying relationship.

A Tempe officer does not need a warrant. Under A.R.S. 13-3602(R), an officer with probable cause to believe an order of protection was violated may arrest, whether or not the violation happened in the officer's presence, and the usual cite-and-release provisions do not apply to that arrest. The Tempe Police department directory lists its own Detention Facility. Rule 4.1 requires an initial appearance before a judge within 24 hours. If a felony is alleged and you are booked into the county jail, that appearance takes place at the Intake, Transfer and Release facility, 2670 S. 28th Dr. Hold on to the release order you receive; Tempe Municipal Court says it shows your court date.

The release order may add its own no-contact term on top of the civil order. That gives you two separate court orders covering the same person, and a judge has to change each one. Under A.R.S. 13-3967(B)(1), the judge setting release weighs the views of the alleged victim.

Do not contact the protected person. Not by call, text, email, social media, letter, gift or a visit, not to apologize, not to talk about the case and not to ask that the charge be dropped. Do not send messages through relatives, friends or coworkers either. If the protected person contacts you first, the order still binds you: do not answer, keep the message, and give 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. A misdemeanor DV conviction requires an approved offender treatment program under A.R.S. 13-3601.01, paid for by the defendant. It can also become one of the three DV offenses within 84 months that the State can charge as aggravated domestic violence, a felony. An order issued after a credible threat finding can bar firearms for as long as it lasts, federal law restricts possession under certain orders as well, and probation for a DV offense makes a person a prohibited possessor under A.R.S. 13-3101. Noncitizens should get immigration advice before any plea.