California Temporary Restraining Order Defense Attorney

Are you facing a temporary restraining order in California? Get in touch with a California TRO attorney who will work hard on your case.

If you’ve been served with a temporary restraining order, it’s critical that you act as quickly as possible and hire an attorney who can defend you against allegations. Then, you’ll have the best chance possible of ensuring the restraining order does not become permanent and you won’t have to deal with criminal charges.

What Is a Temporary Restraining Order?

A temporary restraining order, or TRO, is an order from the court that goes immediately into effect to protect an alleged victim until a permanent restraining order hearing is held or the case is concluded. Typically, it will protect a domestic abuse victim who is in danger of being harmed. It will stay in place until a preliminary injunction hearing, where the alleged victim and other involved parties will present their arguments. This may happen within a matter of weeks, so it’s crucial that you take action fast so you have time to prepare. When you’re given a TRO, it will say the date and time of your hearing and the petitioner’s reasons for filing it.

“I felt like i was in nightmare. Chris literally saved my life.” – Jesus L.

Types of Restraining Orders

Along with a TRO, you may have also heard of an emergency protective order, which a police officer who responds to a domestic violence call can request to protect the alleged victim for seven days. Then, when that time is up, it could be replaced with a permanent restraining order.

A permanent restraining order can last for up to five years. A judge will look at the evidence in the case and decide whether or not a permanent restraining order is necessary to protect the alleged victim and keep the alleged perpetrator away from them.

You could be dealing with a specific type of restraining order for your case. One is a domestic violence restraining order, or a DVRO, which is filed by a person against another person they were married to, are related to, have a child with, or used to date. You could also be contending with an elder abuse restraining order, or an EARO, if you are being accused of physically or financially harming someone over 65 years of age.

There’s also a civil harassment restraining order (CHRO), which is filed by one person against another but not covered under a DVRO. For instance, this could come up if you’re being accused of stalking someone you were not romantically involved with, such as a neighbor. The last type of restraining order is a workplace violence restraining order, which would be relevant if you were accused of threatening violence against someone in the workplace.

Proving You Violated a Temporary Restraining Order

If you are being accused of violating a TRO, then the prosecutor needs to prove a few things. The first is that a judge properly issued the TRO. They also have to show that you knew about the TRO as well as the terms and conditions of it, the TRO was written in a reasonable way that didn’t violate your rights, and you willfully and intentionally violated the restraining order.

The prosecutor is going to weigh the circumstances surrounding your case and whether or not you have criminal convictions on your record. Also, if the alleged victim was injured or if you’ve violated a TRO in the past, you could be charged with a felony.

“From the moment I met Chris, I knew I was in good hands.” – Kevin H.

Penalties for Violating a Temporary Restraining Order

If you violate a TRO, you could face serious penalties. If this is your first time violating it, then you may be put under supervised probation or have to spend time behind bars. It is a wobbler offense, which means it could be charged as a misdemeanor or a felony.

If you’re charged with a misdemeanor, you could spend up to one year in jail and pay a fine of up to $1,000. If you’re charged with a felony for violating a restraining order, you could get 16 months or two or three years behind bars in California state prison and pay a fine of up to $10,000.

If you have a prior conviction within the past year and the victim suffers from an injury, then you could be sent to jail for a minimum of 30 days as well as pay a fine of up to $2,000. If this is your second violation of a TRO within 12 months, you could be charged with a felony or misdemeanor and serve between six months and up to three years in jail.

Additional consequences include having to attend mandatory counseling, making payments to a battered women’s shelter, and paying restitution for the victim. Keep in mind that if you have a restraining order against you, you are not allowed to own a firearm. If you have any on you, you’ll need to surrender them to law enforcement or sell them to a licensed gun dealer in California.

Defending Yourself Against a Temporary Restraining Order

When defending yourself against a violation of a TRO, you could claim that you did not intentionally violate it or it was an accident. For instance, perhaps you showed up at your child’s school at the same time or at a restaurant that you and the alleged victim both frequent, but you didn’t go in order to make contact with them.

Additionally, you may have never received the TRO because it was delivered to the wrong person or it wasn’t properly served to you. In that case, you were unaware that you were violating it. The alleged victim could have falsely accused you of violating the TRO, or perhaps it wasn’t possible to avoid being near them; for instance, maybe you have to walk down their street to catch a bus to work. If the TRO was not legally issued, then there is no way you could be accused of violating it.

Contact Temporary Restraining Order Attorney CBS Law

Want to learn more about what CBS Law can do for you? Then contact us for your free 60-minute consultation by calling (213) 800-8005 or getting in touch on our website. CBS Law is here for you 24/7, and we’ll work hard on your case to ensure justice is served. We are looking forward to helping you with your TRO in California.

Having a temporary restraining order filed against you can turn your world upside down. You may not be able to see your partner and/or your children or go back to your home. Your family and friends could turn on you because they believe you committed a crime. Many times, the courts will believe an alleged victim and you will not have as much of a chance of defending yourself. The best chance you have of getting the restraining order lifted or fighting a violation of a TRO charge is to hire an experienced temporary restraining order attorney like CBS Law.

Christopher J. Bou Saeed Founding Attorney of CBS Law