Restraining Orders

Restraining orders are also known as personal protection orders in Michigan. These orders specify certain conduct that is prohibited. They may forbid someone to enter onto particular premises, take children from someone’s home, assault someone, threaten someone, or interfere with someone at home or work. They are obtained in connection with domestic relationships, stalking that involves non-domestic relationships, and sexual assault that involves non-domestic relationships. If you are charged with violating a restraining order, you may need a criminal defense lawyer to help you fight contempt charges. Grand Rapids and Traverse City restraining order attorney Kelly Neumann and the Neumann Law Group are ready to help.

If someone claims that you have violated a restraining order and calls the police, you may be arrested. The police may immediately arrest you if there is a restraining order in place, they have reasonable cause to believe that you violated it, and you were served with the order. It is not necessary for the police to get an arrest warrant. They may look up the restraining order as well as the proof of service on a computer network. If service has not been accomplished, the police will let you know about the restraining order, and you will be expected to obey it at that point. If you fail to obey it, you may be immediately arrested, even if the police do not have a warrant.

After being arrested, you may be arraigned on criminal contempt charges, or a bond may be set. During the arraignment, you are entitled to have an attorney. You may plead not guilty, and a hearing will be scheduled for the contempt charges. A prosecutor may pursue the contempt charges, but they also may choose not to prosecute if the order was not violated, or it is not in the interests of justice to bring the case. There is some room for advocacy by an experienced restraining order attorney at this stage. In some cases, the person who called the police may not have realized the consequences of their actions, or the accuser may have lied or not be considered a credible witness.

Criminal contempt charges, like other crimes, must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, which is a tough standard. The prosecution will need to establish that the defendant willfully disregarded a restraining order and clearly violated the order. In other words, you may not be convicted of criminal contempt if you only accidentally violated a restraining order.

If you are convicted of criminal contempt, you may be penalized with up to 93 days in jail and a $500 fine. You may also face other charges, depending on the behavior that you are alleged to have exhibited toward the person who accused you of violating the restraining order. For example, if you hit someone who already accused you of domestic violence when obtaining the restraining order, you might be charged with assault and battery.

Courts in Michigan tend to deal harshly with restraining order violations. However, an experienced criminal defense attorney can examine all of the possible angles of your case and fight to get the charges dismissed or reduced. Traverse City and Grand Rapids restraining order lawyer Kelly Neumann is an award-winning trial attorney who can use her experience to help you fight criminal contempt charges. The Neumann Law Group also represents defendants in Flint, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Lansing, Kalamazoo, Detroit, Wyoming, Muskegon, Saginaw, Midland, Holland, Warren, and Petoskey, as well as communities throughout the Upper Peninsula. Contact us at 800-525-NEUMANN or via our online form to set up a free appointment. We also can assist people who need a domestic violence attorney or advocacy in fighting other types of criminal charges.