Domestic Violence Trial And The Subpoena

When a defendant is arrested and charged with Domestic Violence,
that person has the right to a trial by jury with the assistance of an Orange County criminal defense lawyer.
At that trial the State must prove beyond any reasonable doubt that the
defendant actually committed Domestic Battery
and was not acting in self-defense. Typically, the DA will offer a deal before
trial to persuade the defendant not to take up valuable court resources by
going to trial. If the DA’s case is strong, the deal will not be very enticing.
But if the DA’s case is weak, they will usually offer a very good deal.

Any experienced Orange County Domestic Violence Attorney knows that if the case
does go to trial, the DA’s main evidence will be the testimony of the victim or
of anyone who was actually there when the alleged Corporal Injury
occurred. In many cases, the victim does NOT want to prosecute the defendant
and is reluctant to attend the trial. But the DA will issue a subpoena to the
victim/witness in order to compel their attendance. A subpoena is an order from
the court commanding the person to appear at the trial to testify. Failure to
obey a properly served subpoena can result in the arrest of the subpoenaed
witness and jailing of that witness until testimony is given. The subpoena is
available to both the DA and the defendant. The defendant can also subpoena
witnesses.

However, in California, this power of the subpoena only
activates when the subpoena is properly served. This means that it must be
either personally or when the recipient acknowledges receipt of it. To
personally serve a subpoena means that the server must actually hand it to the
subpoenaed person. But in most cases the DA and the defense simply mail the
subpoena to the subpoenaed person with a request for that person to call and acknowledge
receipt of it. If a person does call and acknowledge receipt of the subpoena by
giving their driver’s license number and date of birth, the subpoena must now
be obeyed by the recipient or they could be arrested and forced to testify at
the domestic violence trial.

If you face charges for domestic violence call The Law
Offices of EJ Stopyro at (949) 559-5500 for a free and confidential
consultation with an experienced Orange County domestic violence attorney. You
can also visit us online at www.ejesquire.com.