
¿Estás teniendo dificultades para obtener su solicitud de VISA debido a los requisitos de vacunación? ¿O tienes fuertes sentimientos en…
It’s 1:00 a.m. and your boyfriend just got a home, drunk. You ask him where he has been and why he didn’t answer your calls. He yells at you to mind your business. You ask him again, and he tries to push you away (maybe) but it feels more like hit you with a frying pan. You fall to the floor. Hard. You scream. Your neighbors, concerned call the police. The police appear at your house at 1:10 a.m. You are crying in the corner and your boyfriend is still screaming and throwing things.
The police enter house, since the door was open, and see you crying and a bruise on your head. They can tell your boyfriend is under the influence of drugs or alcohol and they separate the two of you. The officer asks if you want to press charges and want a protective order. They also ask if you want to speak to a Domestic Violence Response Team. They tell you that even if you don’t press charges, they will. Just based on their observations, they have enough to file a complaint against your boyfriend. You tell them you just want him out of the house. He gets arrested.
Domestic violence (or domestic abuse) can happen in a variety of ways, but there are two main components in New Jersey:
Irrespective of how it happens, domestic violence always causes emotional harm and sometimes physical harm.
Keep in mind that if the abuser is an unemancipated minor (under 18 and dependent on parents/guardian) he or she will be prosecuted as a juvenile delinquent, not domestic violence laws. Also it is important to understand that a minor is emancipated from his or her parents if he or she is married; in the military; has a child or is pregnant; or has declared emancipated by the court or an administrative agency.
Domestic violence means doing one or more of the following to someone protected under the Act:
There are now two difference types of cases. The first will be heard in the Family Part of the Superior Court of New Jersey. This is where a Judge will determine if your Temporary Restraining Order (assuming you got one) becomes a Final Restraining Order.
A TRO/FRO can prohibit the abuser from:
The TRO/FRO can also require the abuser to attend psychiatric treatment or seek other help and pay a fine to you.
If you don’t have legal status and you get an FRO against your partner, you may qualify for U-Visa or be able to file immediately for your green card through VAWA. You see an FRO is objective proof that you were a victim of abuse.
In the story, your boyfriend will be prosecuted for the assault (and other qualifying criminal charges) either in your local Municipal Court or if more severe in the Criminal Part of the Superior Court. Your boyfriend will likely face a conviction if you assist the prosecutor. Let’s say you refused to press charges and don’t show up to court to help the prosecutor convict your boyfriend. The police can interview your boyfriend and take his statement. If he admits to hitting you, the prosecutor may not need your assistance to convict your boyfriend. They can do it just with his own words.
Like receiving an FRO, if the court convicts your boyfriend, this is objective proof that you were the victim of abuse. Even if he takes an alternative disposition, depending on what he said on record this may also be sufficient to assist you achieving a U-Visa or green card through VAWA.
If you involve our domestic violence lawyer in the case from its inception, he will use the FRO trial or the allouction in the criminal case to lay the foundation for a subsequent U-Visa or VAWA application for my client.
If you are involved in a Domestic Violence incident and have questions, call 888-6956-6169 to discuss your case with a NJ Domestic Violence Lawyer.
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