Alabama’s mandatory arrest law requires officers responding to a domestic call to make an arrest if they find probable cause — which can be as little as a visible mark or one party’s statement. The arrested person has no opportunity to give their account before charges are filed. That imbalance is where the defense begins: challenging the basis for the arrest, the credibility of the account, and the physical evidence.

A domestic violence conviction — even a misdemeanor — triggers a lifetime federal ban on firearm possession under the Lautenberg Amendment. This affects law enforcement officers, military personnel, licensed gun owners, and anyone in a profession requiring a firearm. It cannot be expunged. It does not expire. This consequence alone makes domestic violence charges among the most serious misdemeanors in Alabama law, regardless of how the case is presented at the initial appearance.

Emergency protective orders are often issued at arraignment without a hearing. They can restrict where you live, where you work, and whether you can see your children — before your case has been heard. We move quickly to challenge emergency orders and represent clients at protective order hearings, where the evidentiary standard is lower than trial but the consequences are immediate and real.

Domestic violence cases are frequently driven by accounts given in the heat of a crisis that do not reflect the full picture. When a complaining witness later recants or changes their account, the state can still proceed — prosecutors are not required to follow the victim’s wishes. We challenge the original account, the circumstances under which it was given, and any inconsistencies in the state’s evidence.

Past results in individual cases do not guarantee or predict a similar result in any future case.