5 Possible Defenses for a Domestic Violence Case

Legally reviewed by Alexis Austin Litle, Founder of Right Law Group. A former Deputy District Attorney in the 10th and 4th Judicial Districts, and she served as Chief of the 10th’s Domestic Violence Unit and served as a Homicide Unit prosecutor before founding the firm in 2018.

TL;DR

• In Colorado, “domestic violence” is not a standalone crime. Under CRS 18-6-800.3, it is a designation attached to an underlying charge, like third degree assault or harassment, whenever the accuser is or was an intimate partner. Beating the case means attacking the underlying charge, the intimate-relationship element, or both.
• Five defenses do most of the work in real cases: the accusation is false, the incident was an accident, you acted in self-defense, the evidence cannot meet the burden of proof, or law enforcement made an arrest error.
• Colorado officers on a domestic violence call are required by CRS 18-6-803.6 to arrest on probable cause, “without undue delay.” Arrests happen fast and sort themselves out later, which is why actual victims sometimes end up charged.
• The DV designation stacks consequences a normal misdemeanor never carries: a mandatory protection order, court-ordered treatment, firearm relinquishment within 24 hours of sentencing under CRS 18-6-801(8), a federal gun bar under 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(9), and a conviction that cannot be sealed.
• The alleged victim cannot drop the charges; the district attorney decides. Recantation alone rarely ends a case, but it changes the evidence picture, and an early defense often does.

If you were arrested after a household argument, you have probably already discovered the two facts that surprise every Colorado defendant: the arrest was close to automatic, and nobody on the government’s side can simply make the case go away, not even the person who called the police. What happens next is not automatic. The five defenses below are the ones that actually resolve domestic violence cases, explained the way our former prosecutors evaluate them, with every rule cited to the current statute on colorado.public.law and the official Colorado Revised Statutes at leg.colorado.gov, and cross-checked against FindLaw’s current Colorado code.

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Why “Domestic Violence” Works Differently in Colorado

Colorado does not charge “domestic violence” the way it charges theft or DUI. CRS 18-6-800.3(1) defines domestic violence as “an act or threatened act of violence upon a person with whom the actor is or has been involved in an intimate relationship,” and it sweeps further than violence: any other crime against a person or property, “including an animal,” or any municipal ordinance violation, counts as domestic violence “when used as a method of coercion, control, punishment, intimidation, or revenge” against an intimate partner. Breaking a phone during an argument can carry the DV tag as easily as a punch.

The tag attaches to an underlying charge. The common ones are third degree assault (a class 1 misdemeanor), harassment, criminal mischief for damaged property, and violation of a protection order. The DV designation is a sentence enhancer, not a separate count, a distinction one of our attorneys walks through in this explainer on the enhancer versus a separate crime. The full charging framework is covered on our domestic violence charge page.

The “intimate relationship” element has its own definition in CRS 18-6-800.3(2): spouses, former spouses, past or present unmarried couples, or two people who share a child, “regardless of whether the persons have been married or have lived together at any time.” Roommates and siblings are not intimate partners; an ex from years ago still is, as is a random one-night stand. Our video on the intimate relationship rule covers how prosecutors prove it, and it matters to the defense for a structural reason: if the state cannot establish the relationship, the DV designation fails even where the underlying charge survives.

Why fight over a designation? Because of what it adds.

What the DV designation adds	Where it comes from	When it hits
Mandatory arrest on probable cause	CRS 18-6-803.6	At the scene
Mandatory protection order, often with a no-contact provision and a vacate-the-home order	CRS 18-1-1001	First court appearance, before any conviction
Court-ordered DV treatment program and evaluation	CRS 18-6-801(1)	On conviction
Firearm and ammunition relinquishment within 24 hours of sentencing	CRS 18-6-801(8)	On conviction
Federal bar on possessing firearms or ammunition	18 U.S.C. 922(g)(9)	On misdemeanor DV conviction, permanently
No record sealing for DV convictions	Colorado sealing statutes exclude them	Permanently
Habitual DV offender: a misdemeanor becomes a class 5 felony	CRS 18-6-801(7)	Fourth DV conviction

That stack is why “just plead it out” is terrible default advice in a DV case, and why the five defenses below get litigated hard.

Defense 1: The Charges Are Not True

False and exaggerated accusations happen, and they cluster where the incentives are: divorces, custody fights, breakups, and immigration disputes. Our attorneys see domestic violence allegations surface with suspicious timing in pending family cases often enough that the firm made a video about false DV allegations in custody fights. A false accusations defense is not built by calling the accuser a liar; it is built by making the record contradict them.

That means preserving what the accuser said, in order, to everyone: the 911 call, the doorway statements on body camera, the written statement, the follow-up interview. Inconsistencies between those versions are the currency of the defense. It means gathering what the accuser’s account cannot explain: text messages and voicemails before and after the incident, photographs showing no injury where injury was claimed, witnesses who saw the evening differently, and, where the accusation puts you somewhere you were not, alibi evidence that closes the door. And it means understanding the accuser’s motive well enough to present it without overreaching, because juries punish overreach.

A documented motive plus a contradicted account is how “not true” stops being your word against theirs. That is the theory that produced the complete dismissal and sealing in the multi-count DV case in our results below.

Defense 2: The Incident Was an Accident

Nearly every underlying charge in a DV case requires a culpable mental state: intent, knowledge, or recklessness. An accident defense attacks that element directly. A door that struck someone during a heated exit, a grab that caused a fall on the stairs, a thrown phone that hit a person it was not aimed at: these produce real injuries and real 911 calls, but they do not produce the mental state the statute requires.

The evidence work is physical. Injury patterns are compared against the described mechanics; a bruise that could not have come from the alleged strike is an exhibit, not a detail. The room layout, the timeline, and medical records are all tested against the story. Where it helps, the defense brings its own expert to explain why the physical evidence fits an accident better than an assault, the same accidental injury analysis prosecutors quietly run before deciding what they can prove.

Accident is honest more often than outsiders assume. Households are chaotic; police reports flatten chaos into intent. Making the chaos visible again is the defense.

Defense 3: Self-Defense

Colorado’s self-defense statute, CRS 18-1-704, justifies physical force when you reasonably believe it necessary to defend yourself or a third person “from what he reasonably believes to be the use or imminent use of unlawful physical force,” using “a degree of force which he reasonably believes to be necessary for that purpose.” The standard is reasonable belief in the moment, not a referee’s replay. The statute has limits worth knowing before anyone builds a defense on it: it is unavailable to someone who provoked the encounter intending harm, or who was the initial aggressor and never withdrew.

Here is the part specific to domestic violence cases, and it is written into the arrest statute itself. When officers respond to a household call and both people claim the other started it, CRS 18-6-803.6(2) requires them to evaluate each complaint separately and consider prior DV complaints, the relative severity of injuries, the likelihood of future injury, and “the possibility that one of the persons acted in self-defense.” The legislature put that factor there because it knows the person arrested is not always the aggressor. In practice, the calmer party, the physically larger party, or the one with fewer visible marks often goes to jail. As our attorneys put it plainly: a lot of actual victims of domestic violence get improperly charged.

If that is your case, self-defense is not a technicality; it is the truth, and it is presented through the same evidence the state collected: comparative injuries, the history of violence in the relationship running the other direction, and the accuser’s own prior complaints. Our video on self-defense in domestic violence cases explains how the defense is raised, and Colorado’s related make-my-day protections can apply when the incident happened in your own home against an unlawful entry. How self-defense differs from a DV charge generally is its own topic, covered separately in our guide to the difference between domestic violence and self-defense.

Defense 4: The Evidence Cannot Carry the Burden

The state must prove every element of the underlying charge, plus the domestic violence designation, beyond a reasonable doubt. A surprising number of DV files cannot meet that burden. The usual case is built from one witness’s account, a stressed 911 call, and photographs; there is often no independent witness, no video of the incident itself, and no medical corroboration. That can lead to conflicting testimony, gaps, and credibility problems.

Two evidence realities dominate these cases. First, the alleged victim cannot drop the charges; Colorado prosecutors, not complaining witnesses, control the case, and most DA offices apply firm no-drop policies. Our video on why the case continues even when the named victim wants it dropped explains the dynamic. Second, recantation does not automatically end anything: prosecutors anticipate it, and they will try the case on the 911 call and the officers’ observations if they can. What an uncooperative alleged victim actually does is shrink the admissible evidence, and a defense lawyer’s job is to make that shrinkage legally decisive, which is why whether a recanting victim ends the case is a strategy question, not a yes-or-no one.

When the remaining evidence is one contradicted account, the burden of proof is not a formality. It is the defense.

Defense 5: Law Enforcement Got It Wrong

Domestic violence arrests are made in minutes, under a statute that commands speed. CRS 18-6-803.6(1) directs that an officer with probable cause “shall, without undue delay, arrest the person suspected.” Speed produces errors, and errors produce defenses: an arrest without real probable cause, a predominant-aggressor evaluation that ignored the statutory factors, statements taken in violation of Miranda, searches that exceeded their lawful scope, and body-camera footage that contradicts the written report, or was never activated at all.

The remedy is suppression: evidence obtained illegally comes out of the case, and DV prosecutions are thin enough that losing one piece often collapses the file. The assault case in our results below was dismissed on exactly this kind of failure, a stop-and-body-camera problem the officer could not explain away.

One practical rule protects this defense before a lawyer ever gets involved: stop talking. Explanations given in the driveway become the state’s strongest exhibit, and officers on a mandatory-arrest call are not there to referee. Our video Arrested for Domestic Violence? Stop Talking to Police is blunt about it, and our guide to what happens after a domestic violence arrest walks through the first days step by step.

The Plea Reality Nobody Explains

Most criminal charges can be negotiated into something unrelated. Colorado law restricts that in DV cases: under CRS 18-6-801(3), a defendant may not plead guilty to a non-domestic-violence offense when the underlying facts include domestic violence, unless the prosecutor makes “a good faith representation on the record” that the office could not prove the intimate-relationship element at trial. The DV tag does not quietly disappear in a hallway deal; the statute forbids it.

That rule shapes strategy in two directions. It means the realistic paths to a clean outcome are dismissal, acquittal, a deferred resolution, or a negotiated plea the statute actually permits, each with different long-term consequences, including for firearms. And it means the defense’s evidence work is the negotiation: a prosecutor who sees a triable self-defense claim or a collapsing witness account has statutory room to resolve the case honestly, and one who does not, does not. Whether charges can be dropped or dismissed altogether is covered in our guide on dropping DV charges in Colorado, and how plea agreements and reduced charges work generally is on the hub.

Be careful with quick resolutions that sound painless: even a deferred outcome in a DV case can carry firearm and immigration consequences while it runs, and a conviction triggers the consequence stack above, permanently. Get the exposure explained before accepting anything.

Domestic Violence Results From Right Law Group

Every case turns on its own facts, and these are a few of the many we have resolved, each with the attorney who handled it:

• Domestic violence, assault, harassment, criminal mischief: complete dismissal and sealing. Handled by Jimmy Litle. Case study.
• Violation of a protection order (domestic violence), Air Force member: dismissed the morning of trial. Handled by Zoe Levesque. Case study.
• Four separate DV cases (harassment, protection order violation, obstructing police): three dismissed, one deferred sentence. Handled by Jimmy Litle. Case study.
• Assault with a deadly weapon (crime of violence): complete dismissal and sealing. Handled by Gannon Becker. Case study.

Disclaimer: past results do not guarantee future outcomes; each case is unique and results depend on the specific facts and circumstances. More are on our case studies page, and our client reviews include 600+ five-star Google reviews.

Charged With Domestic Violence? The Timeline Is Short

Colorado fast-tracks these cases. You will see a judge quickly, usually within a day, and a mandatory protection order issues at that first appearance, before any conviction, often with a no-contact provision and an order to stay away from your own home. Bond conditions get set at the same hearing. Our video on whether DV cases are fast-tracked explains the pace, and modifying the protection order so you can go home is frequently the first fight, one we cover in depth in our Colorado restraining and protection order guide; the court system’s own forms and process pages are at coloradojudicial.gov.

The defenses above are built from evidence that is most available in the first days: body-camera footage, 911 audio, injuries photographed before they fade, and witnesses whose memories are fresh. Call Right Law Group at 719-822-6227, any hour, or book a free consultation. We defend domestic violence cases across El Paso County and the Front Range with a team of former prosecutors, our domestic violence defense page covers the charge itself in depth, and our attorneys answer the questions clients actually ask in the firm’s live domestic violence Q&A.

Domestic Violence Defense Questions, Answered Directly

What are the most common defenses to domestic violence charges in Colorado?

Five carry most cases: the accusation is false, the incident was an accident, you acted in self-defense, the evidence cannot prove the charge beyond a reasonable doubt, and law enforcement violated procedure or your rights, making key evidence suppressible.

Which defense fits is an evidence question, not a preference. A false-accusation defense is built on inconsistent statements and motive; accident attacks the mental state; self-defense is supported by the arrest statute’s own factors; burden-of-proof and suppression defenses attack what the state can actually use in court.

Do not pick a defense from a list; have a defense lawyer read the actual file first, because the police report and the provable facts are rarely the same thing.

Related: Common defenses in DV cases video, domestic violence charge page.

Is domestic violence a separate crime in Colorado?

No. Under CRS 18-6-800.3, domestic violence is a designation attached to an underlying crime, like assault, harassment, or criminal mischief, when the alleged victim is or was an intimate partner. It works as a sentence enhancer, adding consequences to the underlying charge.

That structure defines the defense. The state must prove the underlying crime and the intimate-relationship element. Defeat either and the DV case fails: sometimes the assault did not happen as described, and sometimes the relationship does not meet the statutory definition.

If your paperwork says something like “assault 3, DV,” you are defending an assault charge with an enhancer on it, and both pieces are contestable.

Related: DV sentence enhancer concept, enhancer vs separate crime video.

What counts as an “intimate relationship” under Colorado DV law?

CRS 18-6-800.3(2) defines it as spouses, former spouses, past or present unmarried couples, or two people who are parents of the same child, regardless of whether they ever married or lived together.

The definition cuts both ways. It reaches an ex-partner from years ago, so old relationships still trigger the DV framework. But it does not reach roommates, siblings, or friends, and a dating history that never became a couple is contestable. Courts look at the nature of the relationship, not just its label.

If the relationship element is arguable in your case, it is worth arguing: without it, the DV designation and its consequence stack fall away.

Related: intimate relationship rule video, CRS 18-6-800.3.

Can I claim self-defense against a domestic violence charge?

Yes. CRS 18-1-704 justifies force you reasonably believed necessary to protect yourself or someone else from the use or imminent use of unlawful physical force. The belief is judged from your position in the moment, and the force must be proportionate to the threat.

Colorado’s DV arrest statute itself acknowledges the problem: when both parties complain, officers must weigh prior complaints, comparative injuries, future risk, and the possibility that one person acted in self-defense. Arrest-scene judgments get that wrong, which is why people who were defending themselves end up as defendants.

If you were attacked, tell your lawyer immediately and preserve everything: injuries, messages, and the relationship history can support your claim.

Related: self-defense strategy, self-defense in DV cases video.

What if the injury was an accident?

Accident is a real defense because nearly every underlying charge requires intent, knowledge, or recklessness. An injury that happened without a culpable mental state, a fall during a chaotic argument, a door, a thrown object that struck unintended, is not a crime just because someone got hurt.

The defense is proven physically: injury patterns compared against the claimed mechanics, the room’s layout, the timeline, and medical records. Where the physical story fits an accident better than an assault, expert testimony can make that visible to a prosecutor or a jury.

Tell your lawyer exactly how it happened, in detail, early; accident defenses get stronger with precise mechanics and weaker with vague ones.

Related: accident defense strategy, what happens after a DV arrest.

Can charges be filed if the alleged victim does not want to press charges?

Yes, and they almost always are. In Colorado the prosecuting attorney, not the alleged victim, controls the case. Once police are called and an arrest is made, the district attorney decides whether to file, continue, or dismiss, and most offices follow no-drop policies in DV cases.

The alleged victim’s wishes still matter as evidence: an unwilling witness changes what the state can prove, especially where the remaining evidence is thin. But the request alone does not end the case, and defendants who assume it will often make bad decisions in the meantime, like violating the no-contact order to discuss it.

Never contact the alleged victim to coordinate anything; route everything through counsel.

Related: why the case continues video, dropping DV charges guide.

Will the charge be dismissed if the victim recants?

Not automatically. Prosecutors anticipate recantation in DV cases and will try to proceed on the 911 recording, body-camera footage, officer observations, photographs, and any statements you made. A recantation is one more piece of evidence, and sometimes the state treats it as pressure or fear rather than truth.

What recantation genuinely does is shrink the provable case. If the original account was the spine of the prosecution and it is now disavowed, the remaining evidence may not carry the burden of proof, and an experienced defense lawyer turns that into a dismissal or an acquittal rather than waiting for one.

Treat a recanting witness as an opportunity for your lawyer, not a reason to relax.

Related: victim recanting concept, recantation video.

Why was I arrested when I called 911?

Because Colorado’s mandatory arrest statute forces fast decisions. CRS 18-6-803.6 requires officers with probable cause to arrest “without undue delay,” and when both people complain, the officer picks based on prior complaints, comparative injuries, future risk, and possible self-defense. Those judgments, made in minutes, misfire.

Officers are not required to arrest both parties, so they choose, and the calmer person, the larger person, or the one with fewer visible injuries often loses that choice. Our attorneys see genuine victims charged this way regularly.

The arrest decision is not the verdict. The same statutory factors that failed you at the scene become the framework of a self-defense or wrong-arrest defense in court.

Related: mandatory arrest concept, CRS 18-6-803.6.

Do police have to arrest someone on every domestic violence call?

They must arrest when they have probable cause to believe a domestic violence crime occurred; CRS 18-6-803.6 says the officer “shall, without undue delay, arrest.” Without probable cause, no arrest is required, and the statute does not require arresting both parties when accounts conflict.

Practically, responding officers err toward arrest: the statute commands speed, and leaving without an arrest on a DV call carries institutional risk for them. That is why so many borderline household incidents become criminal cases.

If your arrest came from a call where probable cause was thin, that is not just unfair; it is a suppression argument your lawyer should evaluate.

Related: probable cause concept, evidence suppression.

What is the mandatory protection order in a DV case?

When domestic violence is charged, the court issues a mandatory protection order at your first appearance under CRS 18-1-1001, and it lasts until the case fully ends. In DV cases it commonly includes no contact with the alleged victim, staying away from the home even if it is your home, and firearm restrictions.

It applies before any finding of guilt, and violating it is a new crime, a protection order violation charged on top of the original case. The order can be modified: the defendant or the prosecutor can ask the court to change or lift provisions, and the no-contact and vacate-home terms are the ones most often litigated.

If the order is keeping you from your house or your children, ask counsel about a modification hearing early instead of testing the order’s edges.

Related: mandatory protection order concept, Colorado protection order guide.

Will a domestic violence case take my guns?

A charge triggers restrictions through the mandatory protection order, and a conviction triggers two permanent regimes. Under CRS 18-6-801(8), a person convicted of a crime with a DV finding must relinquish firearms and ammunition within 24 hours after sentencing (excluding weekends and holidays), by selling to a dealer, storing with law enforcement, or transferring to an eligible private party.

Federally, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(9) makes it unlawful for anyone convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence to possess or receive firearms or ammunition, and unlike some state consequences it does not expire. For anyone in the military, law enforcement, or a job that requires carrying, this is frequently the case-deciding consequence.

Raise firearms with your lawyer before any plea discussion, not after; resolutions differ enormously in what they do to gun rights.

Related: DV firearm bar concept, mandatory gun surrender video.

Can a domestic violence conviction be sealed in Colorado?

No. Colorado’s record-sealing framework excludes domestic violence convictions, as our attorneys explain in the firm’s video on the question. A dismissed or acquitted case is different: outcomes that end without a conviction can generally be sealed, as happened in two of the results above.

That asymmetry should drive strategy. The distance between “pled guilty to a small DV misdemeanor” and “case dismissed and sealed” is the distance between a permanent public record and a clean one, and it is why the plea decision deserves more analysis than it usually gets.

Before accepting any resolution, have your lawyer spell out what will and will not ever come off your record.

Related: can a DV conviction be sealed video, DV case results.

What are the penalties for a domestic violence conviction in Colorado?

The sentence starts with the underlying charge; the DV designation then adds its stack: a court-ordered domestic violence treatment program and evaluation under CRS 18-6-801, the protection order for the case’s duration, firearm relinquishment, the federal gun bar, and a record that cannot be sealed. Probation terms in DV cases carry the treatment and no-contact conditions.

The most common underlying charge, third degree assault, is a class 1 misdemeanor, and harassment and criminal mischief have their own ranges. The designation also arms the habitual statute: a fourth DV conviction can be charged as a class 5 felony. A conviction can additionally trigger review of professional licenses for careers regulated through DORA.

Measure any plea against the whole stack, not just the jail exposure; in DV cases the collateral consequences usually outweigh the sentence.

Related: DV penalties video, third degree assault statute.

Can a DV charge be reduced to a non-domestic-violence offense?

Only through the statute’s narrow gate. CRS 18-6-801(3) forbids a guilty plea to a non-DV offense where the facts include domestic violence, unless the prosecutor represents in good faith, on the record, that the office could not prove the intimate-relationship element at trial.

That makes DV negotiations different from every other misdemeanor. The tag does not get traded away as a courtesy; the defense has to create the conditions the statute requires, usually by showing the relationship element or the underlying charge is genuinely unprovable. That is evidence work, not salesmanship.

If a quick plea offer sounds too easy, ask precisely what designation will appear on the judgment; the difference follows you for decades.

Related: plea deal concept, reduced charge concept.

What is the habitual domestic violence offender law?

Under CRS 18-6-801(7), a misdemeanor that would otherwise stay a misdemeanor becomes a class 5 felony if, at sentencing, the defendant has three or more prior convictions that included an act of domestic violence, from separate criminal episodes.

It converts history into felony exposure: a shoving incident that would be a county-court case for anyone else can become a felony prosecution for someone with old DV convictions, even minor ones. Prosecutors check the history at filing, and prior out-of-state convictions can count.

If you have any DV history, tell your lawyer everything at the first meeting; the habitual risk changes the strategy from day one.

Related: habitual DV offender concept, CRS 18-6-801.

What evidence do prosecutors use in domestic violence cases?

The core file is the 911 recording, body-camera footage, officer observations of injuries and demeanor, photographs, statements from both parties, and any medical records. Text messages and prior incident reports get added when the state wants to show pattern or motive.

Notice what the list usually lacks: independent eyewitnesses and video of the incident itself. Most DV cases are one person’s account plus its echoes, which is why credibility, consistency, and the physical evidence do the deciding, and why your own statements at the scene are so damaging.

Every item on that list is also defense material: the same body camera that justified an arrest can contradict the report that followed it.

Related: victim credibility defense, stop talking to police video.

What should I do immediately after a domestic violence arrest?

Say nothing about the incident to police, to cellmates, or on jail phones, which are recorded. Do not contact the alleged victim, at all, through anyone; the mandatory protection order makes contact a new crime. Appear at your advisement, learn your bond conditions, and get a lawyer moving before the first hearings shape the case.

Preserve evidence on your side immediately: photograph your own injuries, save messages, and write down witnesses while memories are fresh. The defenses in this guide are built from material that evaporates in weeks.

The first 72 hours decide more DV cases than the last 72 days; use them.

Related: what happens after a DV arrest, bond conditions concept.

Can false accusations from a divorce or custody fight be exposed?

Yes, and timing is often the tell. When a domestic violence allegation appears mid-divorce or right before a custody hearing, the defense investigates the family-court file, the accuser’s communications, and what the allegation gains its maker. Courts and juries understand incentives when they are shown, not merely asserted.

The proof is documentary: messages inconsistent with fear, prior threats to call police as a tactic, witnesses to the relationship’s actual dynamic, and the accuser’s shifting statements across the 911 call, the police interview, and any family-court filings.

If your accusation arrived with litigation attached, tell your defense lawyer about the family case on day one so the two files can be read together.

Related: false DV allegations and custody video, false accusations defense.

How fast do domestic violence cases move in Colorado?

Fast. The arrest is mandatory on probable cause, advisement usually happens within a day, the mandatory protection order issues at that first appearance, and courts push DV dockets on tight schedules. Decisions with permanent consequences get made in the first week.

The speed is deliberate policy, but it also compresses the defense timeline: body-camera footage, 911 audio, and fresh witness memories must be requested and preserved immediately, and protection order modifications must be raised early if you are locked out of your home.

Treat the first week like the trial; in a fast-tracked system, delayed preparation is lost evidence.

Related: are DV cases fast-tracked video, protection order violation charge.

Do I need a lawyer for a first-time domestic violence charge?

Yes, more than for almost any other misdemeanor, because the DV designation carries consequences a first-timer does not see coming: a no-contact order that can keep you from your home and children, firearm relinquishment on conviction, a federal gun bar, mandatory treatment, a conviction that cannot be sealed, and a plea framework the statute itself restricts.

The consultation is free and produces a real assessment of which of the five defenses your facts support. Bring the summons, the protection order paperwork, and your honest account, including everything that looks bad; defenses are built from complete information.

Call 719-822-6227 any hour, or book online; the earlier the evidence work starts, the more of it exists.

Related: free consultation, Colorado domestic violence defense.