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September 13th, 2008 | 
Author: Offences in this category include allegations of physical violence, sexual assault, threats, criminal harassment, and other such allegations against a family member. Domestic assault charges are typically laid against men.
Assault is any intentional application of force or gesture to another person. This can range from a spit or shove to a full blown fight. The slightest amount contact can result in assault.
The police will require that the complainant give them a video statement under oath immediately following the event. They do this to also preserve the evidence of the complainant on a video to use late at trial should the complainant change his/her story.
The complainant is under no obligation to give such a statement and may wish to obtain legal advice before giving a statement through duty counsel or another lawyer. A complainant should not be afraid to ask to call a lawyer before giving any statement to the police.
Often a spouse will call the police or 911 with the aim to scare the other spouse into changing their behavior. Little do they know is that the police will charge the other spouse and the bail conditions will require that spouse to find another place to live and eliminate any direct or indirect contact with the spouse and the children.
This has serious consequences for the family as a whole. Charges cannot be withdrawn by a spouse nor will filing documents (such as an affidavit) with the police help. Once charges are laid, only the Prosecutor has the power to withdrawn charges. As a matter of their policy, the Prosecutor will rarely withdrawn this charge.
There are also those times where the criminal justice system is abused by those who call the police to remove the spouse from the home in order to obtain an advantange in a family court proceeding. Unfortunately, this is done more often than not.
Care must be taken when defending charges of assault. There can be serious implications in terms of your right to your children under the Family Law Act or the Divorce Act.
Aswani K. Datt practices both criminal and family law and can provide you a coherent strategy to ensure that your interets in both cases are being met.
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