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Court Procedures / Evidence / Service

Information on sentencing for criminal court RO violation

If an abuser is found in contempt or if s/he is convicted of committing another crimes, sentencing for those crimes can be very complicated and the actual sentence may be determined by many different factors. For example, if s/he decides to plead guilty and make a deal, s/he may not face the maximum amount of jail time or any jail time at all (s/he might get probation, community service, a treatment program, etc). If s/he has committed other crimes in the past, s/he may be sentenced to more time in jail or his/her past criminal record may not affect his/her sentence - we can’t say how this would be handled in your state or in your situation.

Also, assuming an abuser pleads guilty or is convicted of multiple crimes, there could be the possibility that the judge may have him/her serve each sentence for each crime concurrently (at the same time) or consecutively (one after the other). You may want to contact the prosecutor or district attorney in charge of the case, or have an attorney do so on your behalf to discuss how long the abuser in your situation will most likely spend in jail, if s/he gets any jail time at all.

If the case is being handled in criminal court, you may also want to make your wishes about the abuser’s sentence known if you have a strong desire for jail time or no jail time - unfortunately we can’t know if the prosecutor would consider your wishes but you may decide to express them. Another possibility that you may want to ask the prosecutor about if this is something that you are wanting to do is to ask whether or not you can make a victim impact statement to the judge before the abuser is sentenced to let the judge know how you feel because sometimes judges take a survivor’s feelings into account when sentencing a criminal.

Additionally, you may want to have a safety plan for you and your family. Here is a link to information about starting your own plan:http://www.womenslaw.org/simple.php?sitemap_id=3. Please remember that this is general information and that you should modify this to meet your specific needs.

Finally, here is a link for finding help in your area:LINK TO STATE AND LOCAL PROGRAMS

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