No charges have been pressed against me as of now and it's been 2 weeks. Idid hire attorney that's on the case but he hasn't heard from the detective.I worked at a daycare facility so I am now being investigated by the department of social services. The day of the incident happened with my ex boyfriend. We were having an argument and he called the police.
He didn't know the police was going to arrest anyone. I was falsely accused of being violent towards him. When the police questioned me I didn't want to make a statement because I didn't want to get him in trouble. What I did do was throw my phone on the carpet not meaning to break it or harm him at. He wrote a letter explaining that I'm not a threat& there was a misunderstanding. Will I be punished by the department?
The Department can take action based on either of these theories:
1. a conviction, whether by verdict or plea; or 2. direct evidence of improper or unethical conduct. In practice, the Department is ill-equipped in most cases to present direct evidence of bad conduct, so most disciplinary actions rest on convictions. But there are, of course, exceptions.
The BEST thing that any State licensee can do to protect or retain a State license or certificate or exemption is to avoid criminal conviction. I am a former Administrative Law Judge who presided at license disciplinary hearings. I have years of experience as licensing legal counsel. NOTHING I can offer to a licensee in jeopardy of administrative enforcement is as important or determinative as the LACK of a conviction. If you have ten dollars to spend, put all ten of them into the best criminal defense available and keep yourself un-convicted.
If you are convicted, or Accused by the Department, get yourself a good licensing attorney. Domestic violence charges are political hot buttons inside licensing agencies. Very difficult to zero out. Chalk it up to politics and interest group leverage, if you will, but treat any D V charges as very serious and rely on skilled and experienced counsel from the first hint of license jeopardy.
Good luck to you.
Have you already been contacted by a social services investigator? If so, it may be wise to lawyer up on the administrative side since it appears you already hired an attorney to handle the criminal side. A lot of what happens at court on the criminal side will depend on whether you have priors, the circumstances behind the actual case at hand, the DA's willingness to charge a specific crime or crimes, and whether they'll be charged as misdemeanors or felonies. Sometimes, a DA might see "mutual combat" and not press charges at all. Other times, they may charge a crime or crimes but take into consideration the fact the "victim" who in this case is male, is saying this was a misunderstanding and lessen the charges accordingly, assuming they file them. Department of Social Services, assuming they have jurisdiction over you as a licensee, may wait to see the result of the investigation/DA action to then file an administrative accusation against you. It is important your criminal defense lawyer be sensitive to the administrative possibilities, (investigation, accusation against license, plea bargain which can still be used by CDSS, etc.) and for you to potentially hire administrative counsel if the CDSS is investigating, as early interception by counsel can be helpful.
