Glendale Domestic Violence Lawyer
Domestic violence charges in Glendale move fast. From the moment police respond to a call, a chain of events begins that can feel completely out of your control: an arrest, a mandatory protection order, separation from your home, and the weight of a criminal record that follows every job application and housing inquiry for years. A Glendale domestic violence lawyer at DeChant Law understands that the circumstances behind these accusations are almost never as simple as the police report suggests, and that the decisions made in the earliest hours of a case often determine where it ends up months later.
Glendale sits within Arapahoe County, and the courts handling criminal matters there treat domestic violence cases with particular seriousness. Colorado law treats domestic violence not as a standalone charge but as a sentence enhancer attached to underlying offenses like assault, harassment, menacing, or criminal mischief. That distinction matters enormously when building a defense, because the prosecution’s strategy, the evidence they pursue, and the plea offers they extend are all shaped by the domestic violence designation. Understanding how that plays out in practice, inside the specific courtrooms and prosecutor’s offices that handle Glendale cases, is what separates a defense that works from one that merely goes through the motions.
What many people facing these charges do not realize is that even if the alleged victim does not want to press charges, the prosecution can and often does proceed anyway. Colorado’s mandatory arrest and no-drop prosecution policies mean the case takes on a life of its own the moment officers are dispatched. That is why having legal representation in place immediately, before arraignment, before any mandatory protection order hearing, before you say a word to investigators, makes a concrete difference in how this unfolds.
What Glendale Domestic Violence Cases Actually Look Like in Practice
Not every domestic violence case involves serious physical injury. In fact, a significant portion of cases that come through Glendale and the broader Arapahoe County system involve misdemeanor-level charges where the allegations center on a heated argument, a single push, a broken object, or words that were interpreted as threatening. These cases feel less serious on the surface, but the consequences attached to a domestic violence conviction, even a misdemeanor one, include mandatory treatment programs, lifetime federal firearms prohibitions, and a public record that cannot be sealed.
Felony domestic violence charges carry considerably greater exposure. If the underlying offense is a felony assault, strangulation, or an offense involving a weapon, the defendant faces potential prison time, lengthy probation with strict conditions, and consequences that can reach into immigration status, professional licensing, and child custody arrangements. At DeChant Law, our domestic violence attorney in Glendale approaches each case by first understanding what the state actually has, not just what they allege. That means reviewing body camera footage, examining 911 call recordings, scrutinizing officer reports for inconsistencies, and evaluating whether the physical evidence is consistent with the accusation.
Common Charges and Legal Issues in Arapahoe County Domestic Violence Cases
- Third-Degree Assault with Domestic Violence Designation: This is one of the most frequently filed misdemeanor charges in Glendale cases, covering situations where the alleged victim suffered minor bodily injury. Colorado statute defines bodily injury broadly, meaning even redness or a bruise can satisfy the element, making early legal intervention critical.
- Strangulation Charges: Colorado elevated strangulation to a felony because research links it strongly to lethal domestic violence escalation. These cases often rest on medical evidence and credibility assessments, and they are prosecuted aggressively regardless of the alleged victim’s cooperation.
- Harassment and Menacing: Many domestic violence cases filed in Glendale originate from verbal confrontations or threatening behavior rather than physical contact. Prosecutors frequently add a domestic violence designation to harassment charges, which triggers all the same consequences as a physical assault conviction.
- Criminal Mischief with Domestic Violence Designation: Damaging property shared with or belonging to an intimate partner can be charged as criminal mischief with a domestic violence enhancement, a charge that carries mandatory treatment requirements and firearms consequences just like assault-based charges.
- Violation of a Protection Order: Once a mandatory protection order is in place after arrest, any contact with the protected party, including contact the alleged victim initiates, can result in a new criminal charge. These violations are prosecuted separately and can significantly complicate a pending underlying case.
- False Imprisonment: Situations involving allegations that one partner prevented the other from leaving a room or residence frequently appear alongside assault charges. The specific facts of how the alleged restraint occurred and how long it lasted are central to how this charge is built and how it can be challenged.
- Child Abuse Charges in Domestic Violence Contexts: When children are present during an alleged incident, the case often expands beyond the partner relationship to include child abuse allegations, which trigger a separate reporting obligation to child protective services and can affect family court proceedings simultaneously.
Why Reid DeChant Handles These Cases Differently
Reid DeChant built his practice on the kind of courtroom experience that most private defense attorneys simply do not accumulate. As a former public defender, he handled criminal cases across Denver, Broomfield, and Adams County courtrooms, defending clients against charges ranging from traffic offenses to homicide. That volume of actual trial work means Reid has cross-examined police officers more times than many defense lawyers have ever entered a courtroom, and it means he knows how to read a case file and identify the moments where the prosecution’s story does not hold together.
Reid is a graduate of the Trial Lawyers College, a program founded by legendary defense attorney Gerry Spence that focuses on psychodrama, authentic storytelling, and human connection as the foundation of courtroom advocacy. In domestic violence cases specifically, that training matters more than in almost any other context. These cases live and die on credibility. A jury evaluating a domestic violence charge is not just processing legal elements; they are forming judgments about two human beings and the relationship between them. Reid’s ability to present a defendant’s full humanity, to tell the real story rather than a sanitized legal narrative, has been central to results like the Not Guilty verdict in a strangulation case and the dismissal of a felony menacing charge at the motion stage listed among the firm’s documented results.
Reid is also a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar, organizations that keep defense attorneys connected to the most current legal strategies, evidentiary challenges, and policy developments affecting domestic violence prosecution. For someone facing charges in Glendale, that connection to the broader defense community translates directly to a defense that reflects what is actually working in Colorado courts right now.
What to Do After a Domestic Violence Arrest in Glendale
The hours immediately following a domestic violence arrest are the most consequential in the entire case. Do not make any statements to law enforcement beyond providing your identifying information. Officers may suggest that explaining your side of the story will help your situation. It will not. Anything you say will be in the police report and will be available to prosecutors who are looking for ways to strengthen their case against you.
After your arrest, you will likely go through the Arapahoe County Detention Facility in Centennial. Bond may be set at a first appearance hearing, and a mandatory protection order will be issued almost automatically in domestic violence cases before you leave the building. That order may prohibit you from returning to your residence, even if you own or rent it independently. Understanding exactly what the order prohibits is essential, because a violation, even an accidental one, results in a new criminal charge.
Your arraignment and subsequent court appearances will typically be handled at the Arapahoe County Justice Center in Centennial, which serves Glendale along with the rest of the county’s incorporated and unincorporated areas. Cases in that courthouse move on a defined schedule, and there are real deadlines for filing motions to suppress evidence, challenge the sufficiency of the protection order, or contest the admissibility of statements made at the scene. Missing those deadlines forecloses options that might have changed the outcome.
One common mistake defendants make in the period between arrest and arraignment is reaching out to the alleged victim directly to try to resolve the situation. Even if the alleged victim welcomes the contact and does not report it, the defendant has now violated a court order and created a second criminal case. Another frequent error is assuming that because the alleged victim has told police they want to drop the charges, the case will go away. In Colorado, that decision belongs to the prosecutor, not the complaining witness. A domestic violence attorney in Glendale can communicate with the prosecution about the alleged victim’s position, but the defendant cannot take that step directly.
Questions People Ask About Glendale Domestic Violence Cases
Can the alleged victim drop the charges against me?
Not directly. Under Colorado’s mandatory prosecution approach, the decision to file or dismiss charges belongs to the Arapahoe County District Attorney’s Office, not to the person who called 911 or was listed as the victim. The alleged victim can communicate to prosecutors that they do not want to proceed, and that communication can influence the prosecution’s decision, but it does not automatically end the case. A defense lawyer can help ensure the prosecution is aware of the alleged victim’s wishes and that any recanted or clarified statements are properly before the court.
Will I lose my gun rights if convicted?
Yes. A conviction for a domestic violence offense, even a misdemeanor, triggers a federal lifetime prohibition on possessing or purchasing firearms under the Lautenberg Amendment. This is not a collateral consequence that can be avoided through plea negotiation to a lesser domestic violence offense; it attaches to any conviction with a domestic violence designation. For current or former military members, law enforcement officers, or anyone whose profession involves firearms, this consequence is often more significant than the criminal sentence itself.
What happens to the protection order if the case is dismissed?
A mandatory protection order issued in a criminal domestic violence case typically dissolves when the underlying criminal case is resolved. If the case is dismissed, the criminal protection order ends. However, the alleged victim may separately petition the civil courts for a civil protection order, which is a different proceeding with its own standards and timeline. A dismissal of the criminal case does not automatically eliminate the possibility of a civil restraining order.
Does a domestic violence conviction affect a custody case?
Significantly. Colorado family courts treat domestic violence findings as a major factor in determining parenting responsibilities. A conviction, or even findings of domestic violence made in civil proceedings, can result in restrictions on parenting time, requirements for supervised visitation, and limitations on decision-making authority. If there is a pending family law case alongside a criminal matter, coordinating strategy between the two proceedings is essential and requires careful attention to how statements or positions in one case might affect the other.
What is the mandatory treatment program, and how long does it last?
Colorado requires anyone convicted of a domestic violence offense to complete a state-certified domestic violence treatment program. These programs typically run for a minimum of 36 weeks and involve weekly group sessions along with individual evaluations. Completion is a condition of probation, meaning that failing to complete the program or being terminated from it for non-compliance can result in a probation violation and potential incarceration. The programs are not free; defendants pay for them out of pocket, and the cost adds up over a nine-month minimum period.
Can a domestic violence charge be sealed from my record in Colorado?
Colorado’s record sealing laws are more restrictive for domestic violence convictions than for many other offense categories. A conviction with a domestic violence designation generally cannot be sealed. Arrests that did not result in convictions, or charges that were dismissed, may be eligible for sealing after applicable waiting periods. This is one of the most important reasons to fight a domestic violence charge rather than accept a plea to any offense carrying the designation, because the record consequences are permanent for convictions.
What if the alleged victim is changing their story now?
Recantation happens frequently in domestic violence cases, and prosecutors are trained to handle it. When an alleged victim changes their account, the prosecution may attempt to use the original statement made to police as evidence at trial under hearsay exceptions, and they may treat the recanting witness as hostile. The defense can use a changed account to challenge the credibility of the original allegation, but it requires careful legal handling. A defense attorney familiar with how Arapahoe County prosecutors approach recanting witnesses can assess whether and how to present the changed account most effectively.
I was defending myself. Does that matter?
Absolutely. Self-defense is a recognized legal defense in Colorado domestic violence cases, but presenting it effectively requires more than claiming it. Physical evidence, the pattern of prior incidents, the relative size and physical circumstances of the parties, and witness accounts all factor into how a self-defense argument is built. Reid DeChant’s trial experience includes Not Guilty verdicts in assault cases where the facts required the jury to understand the full context of a confrontation rather than accepting the prosecution’s framing. Self-defense claims succeed when the defense takes control of the narrative from the beginning.
How long will a Glendale domestic violence case take to resolve?
Misdemeanor cases in Arapahoe County typically resolve within a few months to a year, depending on whether the case goes to trial and how busy the court’s docket is. Felony cases take longer, often a year or more from arrest to resolution. In domestic violence matters specifically, the mandatory protection order remains in effect throughout the pendency of the case, which means restrictions on living arrangements and contact can persist for the entire duration. Resolving the case as effectively and efficiently as possible is a real concern for most defendants, and it factors into how the defense evaluates pretrial options.
What if police never actually saw anything happen?
Many domestic violence arrests happen when police respond to a call and find no physical evidence of injury, no independent witnesses, and conflicting accounts between the parties. Officers in Colorado are required to make a mandatory arrest if they have probable cause to believe a domestic violence offense occurred, even if neither party is seriously injured and neither wants an arrest. A case built entirely on one person’s account, with no corroborating physical evidence, is a case where the defense has significant room to work. Cross-examining the investigating officers about what they observed, what they documented, and what they failed to investigate are often central to how these cases get resolved in the defendant’s favor.
Serving Glendale and the Surrounding Arapahoe County Communities
DeChant Law represents clients facing domestic violence charges in Glendale and throughout the broader Arapahoe County area. From Cherry Hills Village and Englewood through Sheridan and Centennial, and extending into the communities of Greenwood Village, Littleton, Aurora, and Foxfield, our representation covers the full range of jurisdictions that bring cases to the Arapahoe County Justice Center. We also handle matters arising in the unincorporated areas of Arapahoe County, including the communities along East Hampden Avenue and the residential neighborhoods east of Glendale toward Byers and Bennett. Clients from Columbine Valley, Bow Mar, Southglenn, and the Highline Canal corridor have all come to DeChant Law when facing domestic violence allegations. Reid’s prior work as a public defender also means he has direct experience with neighboring Denver County and Adams County courtrooms, providing context for clients whose cases may intersect with multiple jurisdictions.
Talk to a Glendale Domestic Violence Attorney Before Your Next Court Date
The window between an arrest and an arraignment is short, and every day without legal representation is a day the prosecution has a head start. A Glendale domestic violence attorney at DeChant Law can review what you are facing, explain what the mandatory protection order means for your specific situation, and begin building a defense strategy grounded in what the evidence actually shows. Reid DeChant brings genuine trial experience, documented results in domestic violence cases, and a practice approach built on honest communication and real preparation. Call DeChant Law to schedule a consultation and start understanding your options before your next court appearance.
