Intimate Relationship

Right Law Group's guide explains: "Colorado Domestic Violence is a serious charge. If you are in danger or have been falsely accused, it is important to seek legal help immediately."

Alexis explains: "domestic violence here in colorado is phrased a little bit differently than in other states so i've had a lot of people say well i was charged with a domestic in another state here in colorado domestic violence means is a charge where you are being alleged to have committed a crime against someone with whom you are in an intimate relationship and that is all they need"

Right Law Group's guide explains: "Domestic violence is a serious crime. It can be physical, sexual, emotional, economic, or psychological actions that impact the other partner in a relationship."

Alexis explains: "even a one-night stand can be domestic violence because in that case there is a sexual component which is a very easy way for the law enforcement officers to jump right to intimate relationship another thing to be aware of is it doesn't matter how long or how far apart the dating was for the intimate relationship to be applied"

Alexis explains: "intimate relationship at the very broadest means an intimate relationship between either spouses or former spouses or partners or past or present boyfriends or girlfriends literally any kind of romantic involvement now intimate relationship does not require that there be a sexual relationship"

Alexis explains: "it can be a bit confusing because in colorado we also use the term domestic relations domestic relations is generally kind of a catch-off phrase to talk about family law court so if you hear a domestic relations case you may think oh that means domestic violence it's not the same thing domestic relations is dealing with the family dealing with custody marriage all kinds of things that happen within a family domestic violence is related to two people or three people you do you but people who are involved in an intimate relationship of a romantic nature of some kind"

Alexis explains: "it does not mean that it's a domestic situation where if you're let's say if you're hurting your um your child or a cousin or a grandmother that is domestic because it's part of the family unit but it's not domestic violence so in colorado domestic violence only refers to people who are in an intimate relationship not the unit of a family"

Alexis explains: "now intimate relationship does not require that there be a sexual relationship so this is incredibly important to know"

Alexis explains: "now the issue is there are any number of things that can be charged as an act of domestic violence there's no limitation a domestic violence enhancement is applied anytime a crime is committed by one person against another person with whom they are in an intimate relationship we'll delve a little bit further into what that intimate relationship means in later videos but the first thing to understand is there's no blanket charge of domestic violence domestic violence is a sentence enhancer that is applied to underlying criminal charges"

Alexis explains: "now there are other things that can be seen in domestic violence cases that are included in this kind of realm we see sometimes harassment so people will say well what if i don't cause someone pain what if i just pushed them away from me that can actually be charged as harassment again harassment is a broad statute as well so there are any number of ways harassment can be charged but for a physical harassment there has to be a strike a shove a kick or a push to another person who's involved in an intimate relationship and then that can be charged as harassment under the classification of domestic violence"

Alexis explains: "now this is a wide range the assault statue in colorado is very broad and there are a number of different levels but the most commonly seen charge is a third degree assault which means that one person is acting against another person with whom they're in an intimate relationship with and they do something physically to them that causes them pain the actual elements of assault are that a person commits an act against another person and that person who is the victim in the case feels injury and injury is defined as pain in other words if you do something to someone and you're in an intimate relationship with them and you cause them pain you can be charged with third degree assault"

Right Law Group's guide explains: "Are you in a tough spot right now, facing domestic violence charges that could potentially harm your relationship with your kids?"

Alexis explains: "so a general rule of thumb is if there are any questions whatsoever about whether you and another person are involved in an intimate relationship most likely you are"

Zoe explains: "So in Colorado, domestic violence is defined as an act or threaten act of violence upon a person whom the actor is or has been involved in an intimate relationship with where the act of violence is used to gain or maintain power and control over the other person."

Alexis explains: "The actual definition of what domestic violence is is someone exercising power and control over another person in an intimate relationship setting. An intimate relationship doesn't even mean that you're having sex."

Alexis explains: "there has to first be a criminal act then there has to be an intimate relationship between the two people involved in the act"

Right Law Group's guide explains: "Colorado’s mandatory domestic violence arrest statute protects vulnerable victims who can’t always protect themselves. When police officers respond to a domestic disturbance call, they assess the situation."

Alexis explains: "unfortunately we've seen cases where very young children in high school or middle school are charged with acts of domestic violence because there is a proven case of an intimate relationship even without a sexual relationship you can also have an intimate relationship if you're casually dating someone but you're not engaging in any sexual acts but there's still that that intimacy there"

Right Law Group's guide explains: "Assault is a serious crime, but when it involves a family member, it takes on an even more complex and emotional dimension."

Right Law Group's guide explains: "Domestic violence is a serious accusation that should not be taken lightly. In Colorado, there is a mandatory arrest policy in place for domestic violence accusations."

Alexis explains: "what makes it a domestic violence case is if it is between two people who are in intimate relationship and intimate does not necessarily mean sexual it can be um anything from being a boyfriend girlfriend so we've seen domestic violence cases with kiddos in school um as young as like 10 years old it can be any type of situation where there was a previous intimate relationship or previous sexual relationship like between ex-spouses all the way up to people who are currently in a relationship"

Alexis explains: "you can't have just one blanket domestic violence charge it has to be applied to another offense typically what we see is we see something like an assault charged as an act of domestic violence so in order for there to be a dv charge as we typically hear it heard there has to first be a criminal act then there has to be an intimate relationship between the two people involved in the act"