Domestic Offences

Your assault charge may be classified as a domestic assault charge if you have a domestic or intimate relationship with the accuser. This may include a spouse, partner, or family member. The court may treat domestic assault charges with greater severity than assault charges between parties that are not related. This is due to the sensitive nature of domestic assault charges and complex consequences on family dynamics, particularly children.

See “Cases” on our website to view how we have successfully resolved similar cases and prevented the client from receiving a criminal record.

The charge of domestic assault is usually based on allegations made by the complainant. Often other circumstances are uncovered during review of the disclosure.This may include civil lawsuits between the parties, child custody disputes or divorce. Roulston Urquhart Criminal Defence Firm will thoroughly exhaust all options applicable to your case that would result in no criminal record. These may include having charges withdrawn, entering into a Peace Bond, or seeking an Absolute or Conditional Discharge. If these options are not available for your matter, your lawyer will prepare a vigorous defence to proceed to trial and allow your voice to be heard.

The complainant can contact the Crown’s office, Victim Services or the police and inform them that they wish to drop the charges against the accused. But this will not happen automatically. It is the police that lay charges based on the statement of the complainant or witnesses. Further, if the accused coerces or forces the complainant to drop the charges, the accused can be charged with obstruction of justice. This is a very serious offence.

Occasionally, the Complainant is no longer available or refuses to attend trial. The Crown may pursue a conviction even without the Complainant’s court testimony by using the statement(s) previously given to police. Alternatively, if the Complainant refuses to attend, the Crown may issue a warrant for the Complainant.

Often, the first person to call the police will be considered the complainant. You can still be charged with domestic assault even if you were also hit during the alleged incident.

Included below are general guidelines that you can follow after an incident:

• Take photos of your injuries and the scene of the event.
• Save all text messages, social media messages, and statement by the complainant.
• Write down all the details of the event and any previous incidents of violence with the complainant.

If you have been charged, it is crucial that you consult the lawyers at Roulston Urquhart Criminal Defence before you speak with the police. Your lawyer will explain this offence as described in the criminal code and outline your best options moving forward for your defence based on your specific situation.

Often when you are released from police custody, you will have a strict set of conditions to follow while your matter is before the court. This usually includes a ban on communication with the complainant. Even if you receive a message or call from the complainant, you must not respond if a no contact condition has been put in place. It is important to remember that if you reply, you would breach your release conditions and receive a further charge and possible criminal record.

Included below are general guidelines to follow if a complainant contacts you:

• Do not respond to the complainant. Police and/or Victim Services would have already informed the complainant to not have contact with you.
• Save all communications sent by the complainant. This is especially important if these messages include threats against you, attempts to discuss the charges or statements wishing the charges could be dropped.
• Do not lose this communication. Send all proof of communication to your lawyer at Roulston Urquhart Criminal Defence and ensure that you have saved these messages to your iCloud, Google Drive or other device.

Your lawyer will be experienced in navigating these situations and advise how these unprompted messages can be used to your advantage in cross examination and defence of your case. If you have any questions about your assault case, call Roulston Urquhart today for a free consultation to review your options.

You cannot return to the family home if you have a release condition stipulating that you cannot attend this residence. Your partner inviting you to return home does not override the court order. If you return to the residence, this could result in a breach of your conditions. It is very important for your file that you save all text messages, voicemails and communications to document your partners message. Do not lose this communication. You should send all this documentation to your lawyer at Roulston Urquhart Criminal Defence. We will analyze your information and negotiate with the court to have the condition amended or removed if you wish to return home.

Your release conditions should include an exception to facilitate contact with your children. If this visitation was not specified, your lawyer at Roulston Urquhart can negotiate with the Crown or make an application on your behalf. A third party must be suggested to facilitate the contact with your children. Your lawyer will argue that although you are in a conflict with the mother or father of your children, this should not prevent you from seeing them.

The Court will consider the circumstances of the alleged incident when considering a possible withdrawal of your domestic assault charge. The lawyers at Roulston Urquhart Criminal Defence have been very successful in negotiating resolutions for these types of charges.

A possible resolution for a domestic assault charge is accepting a peace bond. A peace bond is not a guilty plea. Entering into a peace bond requires an acknowledgment that there has been an apprehension for the breach of the peace and that a peace bond is required to prevent any further breach. By accepting a peace bond, the client does not admit the alleged facts, only that there was an apprehension for the breach of the peace. A peace bond is an undertaking or commitment to abide by a set of conditions for a set time period. These conditions are case specific. Your lawyer at Roulston Urquhart will negotiate these conditions with the Crown Prosecutor and work to represent your best interests. The Justice presiding over the peace bond will make the final determination of the conditions enforced. This may include counselling, updating your probation officer and other conditions. If the conditions are followed for the specified period then the charge is withdrawn and will not appear on your criminal record.

For more serious matters, and when a resolution can not be agreed upon, your lawyer will take your matter to trial. The lawyers at Roulston Urquhart Criminal Defence will thoroughly prepare your argument and discuss strategy to seek an acquittal.

The potential outcomes of a domestic assault charge include:

1. Charges withdrawn avoiding a criminal record,
2. A peace bond, where charges are withdrawn with no criminal record,
3. An absolute/conditional discharge, after a period of probation which results in no criminal record,
4. Probation with a criminal record,
5. Conditional sentence order (also known as house arrest), or
6. A jail sentence for very serious matters.

The lawyers at Roulston Urquhart prioritize achieving an outcome for clients that avoids a criminal record. We are aware of the potential damage a domestic assault charge causes to your employment opportunities, child custody, immigration status and personal reputation. We will focus on protecting your interests and achieving the best outcome possible.