The State of Nevada takes crimes involving domestic violence very seriously and actively prosecutes domestic violence cases filed in criminal courts.
However, the laws consider certain crimes involving domestic violence even more severe, due to factors that will enhance the charges. The person committing these enhanced domestic violence actions will likely face serious consequences, even if this conviction is that person’s first offense.
Domestic violence is defined as an act of willful and unlawful force by someone with whom the victim shares a domestic relationship, which includes relationships by marriage, dating, blood or child/parent relationship.
These charges normally start off as a misdemeanor offense, especially if it is the person’s first offense. However, certain factors do enhance them to the point where the offense is increased to a felony.
Domestic Battery by Strangulation
One added factor that can enhance a domestic violence offense to a higher crime is if strangulation is involved.
Domestic battery with strangulation means that the aggressor is not only hitting or physically harming the victim but is also impending that person’s ability to breath. Strangulation can be done by hand, but it can also be done by other objects pressed against or wrapped around the victim’s neck.
Fatalities can even occur if the victim falls unconscious during the attack. In fact, during active strangulation, the victim can lose consciousness within seconds and can even die in just a few brief minutes.
The added factor of strangulation can definitively increase the severity of crime, as well as the consequences faced, if convicted.
Battery Causing Substantial Bodily Harm
Domestic violence also normally comes along with the added consequence of the victim being seriously injured.
If the domestic violence act results in the victim receiving substantial bodily harm, this means the victim has suffered severe physical pain that has lasted for a protracted period of time. Substantial bodily harm must be more than just a temporary loss or impairment of a body part.
The offense can be increased even more if that substantial bodily harm was caused by use of a deadly weapon.
Coercion and Domestic Violence
By itself, coercion, the act of persuading or threatening another person to do something or not do something, does not make a domestic violence case. It does become an issue of domestic violence if the defendant used coercion to keep the victim from reporting the crime.
Coercion often involves using verbal or physical threats against the victim or another person close to the victim. The aggressor may sometimes use a weapon as a means of coercion in keeping the victim from reporting the crime, in fear of even more harm if he or she did report the crime.
The added factor of coercion being a part of the domestic violence crime can make the matter much more serious and can increase the consequences involved.
Getting the victim to cooperate in the case can be difficult at times, especially if the person is scared of facing his or her abuser in court. Many times, this will result in the victim not showing up to testifying or refusing to testify.
The use of coercion by the aggressor against the victim often results in the victim not working with the prosecution and will require the prosecution to find additional material witnesses to help corroborate their case.
It is never advisable that the person accused of a domestic violence crime tries to get their “victim” to not cooperate with the case. Taking this step will only hurt them in the end if this information comes to light and is brought to the prosecutor’s attention.
Contact Us Today
If you are the victim of domestic violence or have been accused of committing a domestic violence battery, let Dan and his team go to work for you. Call 24/7 to schedule a free consultation: (702) 848-5000