Legal Question in Criminal Law in Tennessee

Domestic Violence : Felony or misdemeanor

I was arrested after my wife and myself had a altercation. I had been drinking, we fought and I subsequently pushed her into the wall. She actually became overbalanced and fell into the wall. This leaving a large hole in the wallboard. She had a reddened area on one of her elbows. This was the only injury. I did not hit her at all. She did not file the complaint. The neighbor heard the ruckus and called the police. When they arrived I stood without resistance and was handcuffed. I was then placed in a patrol car. I was asked about the hole and I explained what happened. They then took her statement and proceded to confiscate my weapons. I was told that this was a misdemeanor offense and I would get them back. When I get to court, I have no lawyer due to it being a misdemeanor I figure I would pleade guilty and take my punishment foor being stupid. The DA Wants me to sign a Felony assualt paper. I refuse because he tells me that I will lose all of the rights to own guns,vote and have a record. He then says that he will pretrial divert the case. He explains that I will probably get 11/29 unsupervised, forfeit my weapons, pay costs, 30 psw. My question is: Is my problem a felony or misdemeanor, should i lose my guns


Asked on 9/28/04, 3:59 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Jes Beard Jes Beard, Attorney at Law

Re: Domestic Violence : Felony or misdemeanor

Hire an attorney. IMMEDIATELY. If you can not afford one at this point, insist on your right to a jury trial and do NOT sign any paperwork in General Sessions Court to waive (which means to give up) your right to a Preliminary hearing. It is a tremendously valuable right. Check my website at jesbeard.com and look at the general information on the Criminal Law section, including an explanation of the court process in such cases. And if you are convicted, even of MISDEMEANOR domestic violence, it will be a Federal Felony for you to ever own or handle a firearm again. Such a conviction can also have seriously harmful consequences on any future divorce or custody case. There is a way to handle such cases with virtually no risk of a conviction. If you have questions, give me a call at 423-267-4391.

Read more
Answered on 10/03/04, 11:18 pm


Related Questions & Answers

More Criminal Law questions and answers in Tennessee