Criminal Charges / Crimes

I am so sorry to hear that you are in a situation where there is a chance that you will be attacked by your partner. No one should have to be in a relationship where s/he is being abused or feels at risk of abuse. Although I cannot provide legal advice, I hope that I can provide some helpful general information and referrals related to your situation.

In general, the laws of self-defense are complicated and as I mentioned, unfortunately I cannot advise you on what actions you could take that could legally be considered self-defense versus actions that may be considered to be some sort of criminal act. In many states, the actions taken in self-defense have to be in proportion to the proposed threat and often the situation is evaluated to see if the person could have walked away or done something else to get out of the situation instead of using violence in self-defense.  So, for example, if Person A pushes Person B and Person B pulls out a gun and kills Person A, it does not seem likely that a judge would view Person B’s actions as “justified self-defense.” 

I also want to mention that when a police officer comes to a scene where there has been domestic violence, the state may have a law called the “primary aggressor law,” which means that the officer is supposed to evaluate the situation, see if there appear to be injuries on both parties, and decide who is the primary aggressor - and only arrest that person.  However, I cannot speak to STATE’s policy on this and whether or not this is the regulation that is followed in STATE or whether or not it would matter who acted violently against whom first.  In other situations, it may be possible that both parties are arrested. Even if a state does have a primary aggressor law that police are supposed to follow, it isn’t foolproof.  Many officers will be able to successfully make this evaluation and arrest the person who has perpetrated the violence but other officers may not be able to distinguish this as well and there can be a possibility that an officer may end up arresting both parties or just the primary victim of domestic violence.

Sometimes criminal charges are later dropped but it’s hard to predict what would happen. Again, talking to a lawyer for advice may be best. You can find free and low cost lawyers on our website. [HYPERLINK]

If you are looking for resources to try to help leave an abusive relationship, even if there has not yet been physical violence, but there are other forms of violence, you may want to reach out to a local domestic violence organization. [HYPERLINK] Also, often a person who is abused can get an order of protection (even if there has not been physical abuse) which can remove an abuser from the home, order no contact, etc. [HYPERLINK TO RO PAGE] Lastly, here are some ways to stay safe, even while still in an abusive relationship.