There is no one profile that describes all people who are involved in domestic violence cases. Men and women can be the aggressor or the victim. People in same-sex relationships can be just as likely to be involved in domestic violence as those in heterosexual ones.
When a domestic violence case moves into the criminal court system, it is often because there has been some element of physical abuse. This is partly due to the fact that this type of violence can be documented through pictures and medical reports.
Besides the physical marks that this can leave on the person who is claiming to be the victim, there are some other points that might come up in these cases. Oftentimes, the person who is being labeled as the aggressor will face claims of being controlling.
There are some cases that might involve more than one type of abuse. Financial, verbal, emotional and sexual abuse are present in some instances. These often didn’t start out as very serious matters. Instead, they might be mild, almost like inconveniences at first, and then get worse over time.
The cycle of abuse and periods of improved behavior are often part of these cases. It might be possible that the person who is facing criminal charges simply lost control of themselves due to the circumstances. This is something that must be considered when the person is going to court.
A defense strategy can’t attack the alleged victim. Instead, it must try to poke holes in the prosecution’s case without making it seem like the defendant is blaming the victim. This may be a challenge, but it is something that all defense teams have to think about.
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