Domestic Battery: Case Dismissed and Record Expunged

DuPage County Criminal Defense Lawyer Successfully Defends Family Violence Charge

At 9:00 p.m. on a Friday night, we received a call from a father who was very concerned because their daughter had just been arrested for domestic battery after an argument with her mother. Like most people in that situation, nothing like this had ever happened in this family before and they had no idea what to do.

We explained to them what would happen next, and assured them Audrey Anderson would be in bond court early on Saturday morning to represent their daughter. Audrey appeared in bond court that morning before a judge she has argued in front of numerous times, and was able to get their daughter released without having to post bond.

The next week we met with the father, mother, and daughter in our office. We answered numerous questions and explained to them some of the legal terms they did not understand, as well as the court process. They were surprised to know that cases just don’t automatically get dismissed on the first court date because of an unfortunate incident between a parent and a child. We were able to review the police reports and tell them about our options in court, including setting this case for trial, which we did.

When the case was up for trial we were able to get it dismissed and the family was very relieved. It was not a particularly complex case in comparison to some of what our firm handles, but the family was very relieved to have this behind them. At that point, we did not want to spoil their good mood but we did inform them that even though the case was dismissed, this arrest was still on their daughter’s record.

Having an arrest on your record is a serious thing, and no one wants a single mistake from a heated argument to affect their educational and future employment opportunities. We advised the family that this case was a good candidate for expungement. A few months later the family retained us again for the expungement, and we successfully expunged this arrest and case so that it no longer appears on their child’s record.