Your Las Vegas Domestic VIOLENCE DEFENSE Attorney
Domestic Violence
NRS 33.018 Acts which constitute domestic violence.
1. Domestic violence occurs when a person commits one of the following acts against or upon the person’s spouse or former spouse, any other person to whom the person is related by blood or marriage, any other person with whom the person has had or is having a dating relationship, any other person with whom the person has a child in common, the minor child of any of those persons, the person’s minor child or any other person who has been appointed the custodian or legal guardian for the person’s minor child:
(a) A battery.
(b) An assault.
(c) Compelling the other person by force or threat of force to perform an act from which the other person has the right to refrain or to refrain from an act which the other person has the right to perform.
(d) A sexual assault.
(e) A knowing, purposeful or reckless course of conduct intended to harass the other person. Such conduct may include, but is not limited to:
(1) Stalking.
(2) Arson.
(3) Trespassing.
(4) Larceny.
(5) Destruction of private property.
(6) Carrying a concealed weapon without a permit.
(7) Injuring or killing an animal.
(f) A false imprisonment.
(g) Unlawful entry of the other person’s residence, or forcible entry against the other person’s will if there is a reasonably foreseeable risk of harm to the other person from the entry.
2. As used in this section, “dating relationship” means frequent, intimate associations primarily characterized by the expectation of affectional or sexual involvement. The term does not include a casual relationship or an ordinary association between persons in a business or social context.
(Added to NRS by 1985, 2283; A 1995, 902; 1997, 1808; 2007, 82, 1275; 2017, 3179)
Domestic violence charges are becoming more frequent in Nevada. The police have a policy when two persons who are in a relationship are arguing and they are called out to the home. The policy is that they are required to arrest one of the parties to separate them for a twenty four hour period. Although this seems on its face a harsh policy, it comes with a logical basis. If they were to leave the two people together and later that night one person gets severely injured or even killed, then the police could be sued because they could have prevented this from happening by arresting one person.
The police can use many charges to do the separation but commonly use domestic violence because it puts into place many protections. Even in cases where no battery (physical altercation) has occurred between the parties, they can use the elements of assault to impose this charge. Assault is simply putting someone in apprehension of physical harm. No touching is required and as long as the person was fearful of being hurt, the arrest would be proper.
But an arrest and proving the matter in trial are two different things. If there is no physical altercation, then the fear or apprehension of a future assault is difficult to sustain. Attorney’s can assist in proving that there was no domestic violence at the time in question.
I raise a more serious crime that occurs in arguments between people in a relationship. It is the battery that occurs when one person touches another and it is done around the throat area. It does not have to be the intent to strangle the other person but the physical marks on the neck that gets people in trouble. And when I say trouble I mean it. The penalties run from 2 to 10 year sentences, even to life in prison. These are the hardest cases to fight but with the possibility of life in prison, this is when you must hire a good attorney. Never attempt to strangle your lover in the State of Nevada.
Ravenholt & Associates
2013 Alta Dr.
Las Vegas, NV 89106
702-647-0110 office
702-647-6332 fax
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