July 08, 2010 - Mike Robinson
When a man and woman marry, they form a union with love. Frequently children come along and they now have a full fledged family. One of the bonds of marriage that isn't on the front burner is that of money and finance. Whether they thought about it or not prior to marriage, a man and woman are business partners in the true family business, their family.
When hard financial times come into a family, such as a job loss by one of the breadwinners, tensions can rise up and take over the whole family dynamic. It is a lot easier and a lot more fun to make upward changes in family finances. Whether its buying a new car, new home, or vacation plans, this kind of financial management is joyful. Its quite a different story when there are downward changes in family finances. Cutting back on dinners out, vacations, etc. can start to unravel a relationship. The bigger and more tragic cutbacks, such as a home foreclosure, a car repossession, a process server at the door can accelerate a crash of the marriage and start the breakup of a marriage.
Often in a husband-wife shouting match over financial difficulties, the situation escalates. Push indeed comes to shove and, if one or the other dials 911, the situation will quickly become unmanageable for the husband and the wife.
Starting in 1988, the Colorado Legislature began enacting a series of state statutes that have evolved into our current Domestic Violence Law. So much of the current laws in Domestic Violence are mandatory in nature that, if the police are called out on a domestic violence case, they must do a number of things. Peace officer duties are spelled out in a Colorado Statute. The police must determine that there is probable cause to believe that a crime or offense involving domestic violence has been committed. After that, the office must , without undue delay, arrest the person suspected. If both parties are liable, the police still only have to arrest one of them. Laws against domestic violence are tough, mandatory, and sometimes hard to comprehend. Colorado's Domestic Violence Law then requires the issuance and service of a Mandatory Protection Order against the person charged. A violation of this Protection Order is a separate crime unto itself.
Domestic Violence Cases usually end with the person charged having to attend Domestic Violence Classes. Their may be jail time imposed. In addition, the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act effectively prohibits the person charged from ever possessing or owning a firearm for the rest of their life.
Because of the harshness of the Domestic Violence Laws in Colorado, it is often wise to challenge the case from the inception. Avoidance of a conviction of a Domestic Violence Crime can help to heal the whole situation and may help a family and a marriage heal.