Queens Criminal Defense Attorney

Queens Domestic Violence Charges

The Queens District Attorney's Office is in charge of all domestic violence cases that allegedly occur in Queens (Kings County). The Domestic Violence Bureau is tasked with this job.This is done by specialized prosecutors who focus mostly on domestic violence cases. The cases proceed mostly in domestic violence courts and or a court called IDV. IDV stands for Integrated Domestic Violence Part. This is a Courtroom that a single judge will hear both the criminal case and the family law case that is attached to it. It is designed to prevent parties from going back and forth to different court rooms on different dates. If you are facing a felony, your case will be handled at Queens Supreme Court. If you are facing misdemeanor charges, your case will be handled in Queens Criminal Court.

The Queens DA has made domestic violence prosecutions a priority. Very little investigation is done in these cases by the prosecutors. They will mostly believe the word of the accuser over the accused and try to force the accused to accept some kind of plea deal in order to keep up their numbers. The federal government aslo hands out grants to prosecutors who focus on these types of cases. The result is that many of the accused,(mostly men), are coerced into pleading guilty into batterers programs and be labeled as abusers, even though they have done nothing wrong. The prosecutors are very reluctant to dismiss a case against anyone, even if the evidence is not there. They rely on the threat of a jury trial to force people into accepting plea deals. This has become a nationwide problem in these types of prosecutions. Prosecutors even go so far as prosecuting someone without the victim's testimony. This is the time you need personal attention from your criminal defense lawyer. In no other type of case does this occur. Alleged victims are often given help with free housing and vouchers in order to help the DA prosecute cases. If you are facing domestic violence charges in Queens, contact the Law Offices of Michael S. Discioarro, LLC at 917-519-8417 and protect your legal rights.