PT4M22S
“What is the difference between a protection order in a DV case versus what we think of as a restraining order? So, being lawyers, we like to have acronyms for everything. You'll hear it called a CPO, a civil protection order, an MPO, a mandatory protection order. Some people will call it an RO, which is just a restraining order. But, fundamentally, there are two key differences between criminal protection orders and civil protection orders.”
“In the criminal case, there will be a protection order issued against the husband, the defendant, for this crime of domestic violence assault. Now, that is a mandatory issuance. There is no way around it. Even if the named victim says that she doesn't want there to be a protection order, the protection order will remain no matter what. There are different ways that the protection order can be modified, which we go into in other videos. But, for that criminal charge, the protection order remains as long as the case is open. And that includes as long as the case is open if you're on probation thereafter.”
“We're going to use a typical example of a husband and wife because that's normally what we see being charged here in Colorado Springs. We'll say that there's a husband and wife, they get into an argument, the husband shoves the wife, and she gets injured. So, that is an assault.”
“So, if this was not an amicable relationship and if the wife was very upset about this and wanted to further take out a protection order against her husband to last a lifetime, she could file for what's called a civil protection order. Now, the difference between the two is a civil protection order has to be actively sought by the person looking for a protection under that protection order. It is not mandatorily issued like with a criminal charge.”
“So, the key differences are number one, a criminal protection order enters automatically on a domestic violence case. A civil protection order has to be actively sought for, applied for and there's a hearing for that. A criminal protection order lasts for the duration of the criminal charged case. Once the case is done, so once someone's gone through and let's say they've gone through probation and they've successfully gone through probation and ended the case, the criminal protection order is no longer in effect. A civil protection order on the other hand lasts for as long as someone wanted wants it to last.”
“In other words, a civil protection order is generally thought of as being a lifetime protection. There are ways to get a civil protection order lifted, but usually the person who has asked for the protection order has to ask for it to be removed. And there are a couple of waiting periods of a number of years that you have to wait before that can even happen.”
“The other thing to be aware of is whether you have a criminal protection order from a criminal case or a civil protection order, you can still be charged with a crime if you violate either of them. Under the current law here in 2022, a a violation of a criminal protection order results in a class one misdemeanor, which is the same level as an assault. So, you will get another charge writing up against you if you violate that criminal protection order. On a civil protection order, it a a violation of that civil protection order results in a class two misdemeanor. So, it's still a notch down, but it's still a criminal offense.”
“Now, the other thing to know is someone can have both a criminal protection order and a civil protection order against them at the same time from the same incident from the same victim. We see it all the time. It doesn't do anything to the criminal case, but there are some things to consider where if If are being charged with a criminal charge and your victim is then trying to file a civil protection order against you, you have the right to defend yourself in both cases, but anything you say in one case can be used in the other case.”
“Now, that is a mandatory issuance. There is no way around it. Even if the named victim says that she doesn't want there to be a protection order, the protection order will remain no matter what.”
“So, the key differences are number one, a criminal protection order enters automatically on a domestic violence case. A civil protection order has to be actively sought for, applied for and there's a hearing for that.”
“you have the right to defend yourself in both cases, but anything you say in one case can be used in the other case.”
“It's very, very important to know there are two different kinds of protection orders that happen in domestic violence cases.”