Albuquerque Criminal Lawyer Blog

Travel restrictions are a standard condition of release in criminal cases. Travel restrictions are often imposed on defendants even in minor misdemeanor cases. These restrictions are often routinely set as a condition of release even when there is no need for them. In some cases, restrictions on travel can have very harmful and unnecessary consequences for the defendant and his or her family.

It is very important to address travel restrictions at the earliest opportunity which may be at the first appearance or arraignment depending upon the circumstances. It is also very important to inform your attorney if travel restrictions will pose problems. These problems can arise in a variety of ways.

Job duties and family duties are the most common basis for modifying the conditions of release to lessen travel restrictions. Many New Mexicans must travel outside the restricted areas for a variety of job and family related reasons.

The travel restrictions often limit travel to the county of the defendant's residence. Sometimes, the travel restrictions will be less strict allowing travel to adjacent counties or even the State of New Mexico as a whole. Travel limitations which restrict travel to the county of residence or adjacent counties can cause enormous work and family related problems.

Because New Mexico is fairly spread out, people often work in counties other than where they reside. In addition, kids often go to school, have doctor's appointments, daycare, family support structures and so on outside the county of residence or even beyond adjacent counties. In addition, there are many defendants that must travel outside New Mexico for work.

Other issues can arise as well such as the need to care for sick parents or other family members that are outside the county or even the state. There may also be training and education requirements that require travel. In short, there are countless reasons a defendant might be required to travel outside his or her county or New Mexico.

Travel restrictions can cause severe burdens on the defendant and the family. At worst, the defendant could lose his or her job or the kids cannot get to school on time or perhaps at all due to the inability to travel. At best, unnecessary travel restrictions are a burden that serve neither the alleged victim or the public.

Depending upon the circumstances, the nature of the charges, the defendants criminal history, the defendant's record of attending all required hearings and so on, many judges will entertain modifications to the travel restrictions to minimize harmful and unnecessary burdens on the defendant and his or her family.

Work and family duties will be considered carefully by most judges as it is clearly to the benefit of none for the defendant to lose his job, the family to lose financial resources, or the family to suffer unnecessary burdens and losses. On the other hand, judges are less likely to entertain vacation and recreational travel though in some cases even these may be accommodated so long as the prosecutor does not oppose.

The most important thing to take from this is that the court needs to know the burdens that travel restrictions will cause the defendant. This means informing your attorney if you have one, or telling the court directly if you do not. Otherwise, the conditions are imposed as a matter of course. Once in place, it is much harder to get them modified and will require a motion and likely a hearing with the defendant present in court.

Collins & Collins, P.C.
Albuquerque Attorneys

There a variety of factors that come together during the holidays that far too often end with trip to jail and a journey through the courts. Sadly, the holiday season brings with it a significant increase in incidents of domestic violence. One need not look far to figure out the causes for this.

Alcohol is perhaps the chief culprit. Generally, alcohol is a significant contributor to incidents of domestic violence. This is well recognized and is one reason alcohol use is strictly prohibited as a condition of release in domestic violence cases. Violations of the prohibition on alcohol use have serious consequences for the defendant not infrequently resulting in confinement while a criminal domestic violence case is pending.

Unfortunately, use of alcohol increases substantially during the holidays. Most every party and get together will have alcohol. In addition, there are the alcohol fueled football game watching activities. Alcohol is often even served at company parties and holiday functions. It would be hard to avoid alcohol even if one were inclined to do so. And, many are predisposed in the other direction due to any number of circumstances.

Stress during the holidays can add significant pressures to a relationship. There are too many holiday stressors to enumerate here. Suffice it to say that stress coupled with alcohol can lead to some unfortunate outcomes.

Alcohol and stress cannot used to explain away domestic violence. Nor can it be used as an excuse. Domestic violence is a very serious issue with much deeper and complex explanations than a mix of alcohol and stress. On the hand, it is fairly well established that many people do not handle alcohol very well. They do things under the influence of alcohol that they would not otherwise do.

It is clear that stress and the lack of control or inhibitions brought on by alcohol can lead to escalation of situations that would not otherwise occur. The stress and emotions of the holidays can put everyone on edge. Throw in alcohol and the inhibitions may come down completely. As does the judgment.

What might otherwise be a rational conversation can quickly escalate to the point that the police are called by one of the parties, frightened children, friends or neighbors. Once the police are called out on a domestic violence call, even when the call itself may have been an overreaction fueled by alcohol, one of the parties is going to jail.

On occasion, it seems as if who goes to jail is simply a coin toss. One way or the other, the event can have extremely costly consequences for the family. Honestly, the attorney fees alone should be a deterrent. However, there are far more serious and lasting consequences beyond attorney fees such as the possibility of permanent criminal record and lifetime domestic violence offender registration.

In addition, and as a result of the finding of domestic violence, there can be severe employment consequences. In fact, a domestic violence conviction will make one ineligible for many jobs. In New Mexico, one chief concern is the loss of security clearances. And these are not all. There are several other consequences of a domestic violence finding including extremely severe immigration consequences.

The best way to avoid these outcomes is to avoid one of the primary causes which is over-drinking. If you cannot drink without over-drinking, then don't drink. And don't put yourself and your loved ones in a situation where this might even remotely become a problem.

In other words, if you cannot control yourself around an open bar, then stay away from parties. If you cannot go out with friends to watch football without overdoing it, then watch football at home. If tensions and stress are already high around your home, then don't throw gasoline on the fire. If you cannot resist the urge to drink even though you know drinking might lead to problems, then seek counseling. And understand that if you don't go voluntarily, the court will sternly nudge you in that direction.

The holidays can be trying. The aftermath can be even more difficult. This is particularly so if you are facing domestic violence charges. The stress of the holidays will not be alleviated one bit by a criminal prosecution in the new year. In the unfortunate event that domestic violence charges are a part of your holiday season, seek the guidance of an attorney before further harm is done.

Collins & Collins, P.C.
Albuquerque Attorneys

On every criminal charge filed in Albuquerque or anywhere else in New Mexico for that matter, an Order Setting Conditions of Release will be issued. The Order is pretty standard for the most part. The Order will prohibit the possession or consumption of alcohol or illegal drugs, the violation of any laws while out on release, driving without a valid driver's license, or the possession of firearms or other deadly weapons. Finally, the Order will prohibit contact with the alleged victim(s).

These Orders Setting conditions of release are taken very seriously by the judges throughout New Mexico, and especially in Albuquerque. Violation of the conditions can result in arrest and worse a hold until the date of trial. The condition that stings the most in domestic violence cases is the Order prohibiting contact with the alleged victim. Often, the alleged victim does not want to pursue the charges. There are many cases when the alleged victim did not even call the police. Instead, a neighbor may have called in a domestic violence call. Frequently, the alleged victim will flat out explain to the police that nothing happened, and there was no domestic violence.

An arrest is made anyway as a matter of law enforcement policy. The police officer simply will not take the risks of leaving both parties unattended at the scene of a possible domestic violence. There are too many high profile cases where this was done, and one of the parties was badly injured or even killed.

The arrest of course kicks in the criminal process and the no-contact order. The defendant is now prohibited from returning to the home. This places enormous emotional strain on the couple or family. In addition, the financial consequences can be disastrous.

So what should you do? This is a hard question to answer and an even harder decision to make on your part. You can file a Motion to Modify Conditions of Release. This requires both your appearance and the appearance of the alleged victim in court before the judge. Once the alleged victim appears, the District Attorney, and sometimes the Court, will strongly insist that the alleged victim appear for all future court appearances. The prosecutor may even insist on regular contact between the alleged victim and the prosecutor's office. This keeps the alleged victim under the control of the District Attorney and almost insures the alleged victim's appearance in Court on the date of trial.

Why is this a problem? Many of the cases described above get dismissed eventually because the alleged victim does not want to pursue the charges, and will avoid the District Attorney to avoid being forced to proceed on questionable or baseless charges. Once the District Attorney has made contact with the alleged victim, the greater the chances are that the District Attorney will coerce the attendance of the alleged victim even by threat of contempt, or the threat of charges against the alleged victim for making false criminal charges.

Thus, the reluctant alleged victim who knows full well the call to the police and the consequent criminal charges should not have been made will show up for court out of fear of reprisal by the District Attorney for their refusal to cooperate. Thus, in the end, you are faced with the decision of modifying the conditions of release which on the one hand allows you to legally go home while on the other greatly increasing your chances of a full blow trial.

Domestic Violence can be very serious, and often it requires immediate law enforcement intervention to protect the parties. The police, the courts and prosecutors take it very seriously as well. Often, however, the person making the call does not realize how seriously it is taken. It happens all the time. During the heat of an argument, one of the parties calls the for a any number of reasons other than a real threat to his or her safety. Frequently, there is no violence, threats, or harm of any kind other than hurt feelings. No act of domestic violence has in fact occurred under the Statutory Definitions of Domestic Violence in New Mexico. The party calling the police has called for the wrong reasons whatever those reasons may be.

Immediately, the caller realizes the mistake that he or she has made. Typically, the other party is arrested. On occasion, the caller is arrested. Inevitably, somebody is arrested. Police officers do not make courtesy calls for domestic disputes. They don't show up to help the parties talk out their problems. Somebody is leaving the home in handcuffs. It often does not matter that the caller recants sometimes begging the police not to arrest their partner or spouse. It doesn't matter later when the caller contacts the prosecutor explaining that he or she does not wish to prosecute. The criminal justice system has been set in motion and the couple is in for a long, stressful and often expensive ride.

I get the call all the time where my client explains that his or her partner does not wish to pursue the charges. In fact, these are generally the first words from my clients mouth in cases of domestic violence. Despite the lack of reason or rationality, and even in the face of clear evidence that there was no domestic violence, prosecutors generally will not drop the charges. Instead, my client and his or her partner or spouse must endure the long and often frustrating criminal justice process as the case makes its way through the system.

This is the bad news. The good news is that eventually these types of case generally get dismissed. In the end, the prosecutor cannot prosecute a case without a cooperative victim. Typically, these cases will get dismissed due to the refusal or failure of the alleged victim to appear in court. The prosecutor can, and will in serious cases of domestic violence, subpoena the victim to court. However, if it does go to trial, and the victim testifies that there was no act of domestic violence, then the client will be found not guilty.

The problem is that this process takes up to 6 months before the case is finally dismissed or taken to trial. In the meantime, the client and the partner or spouse must suffer the emotional and financial stresses of court. Worse yet, the parties may be prohibited from contact during this entire time period placing enormous financial and emotional strain on the parties and their family.

So what is the lesson here? Don't call the cops unless you really need them. If you need marital counseling, get it. Cops are a very poor and expensive alternative to counseling.

Parrish Collins
Collins & Collins, P.C.
http://www.collinsattorneys.com