Can You Contact an Alleged Victim After a Domestic Violence Arrest in Washington State?

Once you have been arrested on allegations of domestic violence, your life has already been upended from the normal.  If you make bail and can go free while you await trial, you may still face restrictions on what you can do and where you can go, which includes restrictions against talking to the alleged victim.

You should never try to contact the alleged victim on your own after domestic violence charges.  Your bail conditions and the terms of any emergency restraining orders they have against you may stop you from calling or texting them.  Additionally, the courts might see further communications as harassment or even stalking.  If there are discussions you are allowed to have – such as coordinating picking up your things or your shared children – you may still want to handle them through a third-party intermediary like a family member, friend, or your lawyer.

For help with your case, call our Tacoma, WA domestic violence defense lawyers right away at the Law Offices of Smith & White at (253) 203-1645.

Bail Terms Limiting Contact with Alleged Victims

If you are accused of committing a crime against someone else, then the court will typically stop you from contacting them further.  This is common for any case, not just domestic violence.

When you get bail, courts assess your flight risk and danger to the community, and if they release you, there will be terms and limits in place.  Of course, one of these is a requirement to return for your next court date, but there may be check-in requirements or even some required payment or bond.

There are also potential limitations tied to the alleged conduct.  For instance, when a known victim is involved, the bail conditions will usually prevent you from committing further crimes against them, but no-contact orders are also incredibly common.

If you violate this order, then your bail can be revoked, and you can be sent to jail while you await trial.

Restraining Orders

The alleged victim in a domestic violence case can go to court for an “Immediate Restraining Order.”  These are emergency petitions filed on an “ex parte” basis, which means only the petitioner (the alleged victim) is in the courtroom when the judge hears the petition.

If your spouse or partner gets a restraining order against you after the arrest, it can have wide-ranging terms that restrain your actions:

• Orders not to contact the petitioner, your shared children, or other household/family members
• Orders to stay away from the petitioner
• Orders keeping you from returning to a shared home, workplace, school, or other locations you both frequent
• Orders keeping you from accessing shared children
• Orders stripping you of firearms
• Orders keeping you from economic retaliation, restricting accounts, canceling insurance policies, etc.
• Temporary support orders

Within this is often a clear directive not to call, text, or otherwise contact the alleged victim.  These orders last until you get a chance to go with your own lawyer and challenge an extension, typically 14 days after the order goes into effect.

If you violate this order, you can face separate penalties and arrests for the violation, as well as additional legal trouble in any related divorce, custody, or support cases that stem from this situation.

What About Necessary or Emergency Communications?

Sometimes when these orders are in place, our Washington domestic violence defense lawyers can put in exceptions for the kinds of conversations you need to have.  However, even when these communications are allowed, it is important to be careful.

For example, if you and the alleged victim share a house, then it would be unfair to leave you locked out of your home and unable to access your personal possessions, a change of clothes, etc.  The court may permit you to call to coordinate a pickup time when they won’t be home so that you can get what you need without additional in-person interactions.

However, these conversations can go south quickly, and they may stray off topic into arguments or angry words that might violate the bail terms or restraining order.  As such, it is better to have these talks – and arrange exchanges of clothes and whatnot – through a third party.

Our lawyers can contact their lawyers or work with the police officers on the case to coordinate things, or potentially monitor what goes on if you involve a friend or family member to take care of these conversations.

Sending someone else to threaten or harass the victim on your behalf would still potentially lead to criminal liability or violations for you, too.

Additional Charges for Contacting an Alleged Domestic Violence Victim in Washington

One of the worst-case scenarios is that your contact with the alleged victim in your case not only violates your bail terms and a restraining order, but also leads to additional charges.  This can add to the case against you and potentially increase penalties.

First, violating bail terms and restraining orders has its own penalties, and you may still face penalties for the original domestic violence charges.  However, other charges can come after these for additional contact with the other party.

These additional charges will usually be for the following crimes:

• Harassment, which includes any verbal threats to injure someone, damage their property, etc.
• Stalking, which covers repeat harassment, repeated unwanted contact, and other behaviors that put the person in fear of injury or harm.
• Witness intimidation, which covers threats or other intimidation of the victim, who is technically also a witness.

Committing these first two crimes against someone who already has a protective order against you increases the penalties, too.

What to Do if You Face a No-Contact Order for Domestic Violence

If you are under a no-contact order, you must comply with it.  These are court orders, and violations come with additional penalties.

Instead of trying to take matters into your own hands, always work with a lawyer and challenge the orders and accusations through the proper channels.  This means fighting them in court with evidence and arguments.

Our lawyers can also fight against overly restrictive requirements and try to get final penalties and restrictions reduced or suspended in favor of something like probation, when possible.

Call Our Washington Domestic Violence Defense Lawyers Today

To set up a case review, call the Law Offices of Smith & White’s Lakewood, WA domestic violence defense lawyers at (253) 203-1645 today.