Often times a Judge or Commissioner will issue a stay away order or a no contact order as a condition of a Defendant’s pretrial release. If the charge is theft/shoplifting, the order is usually to stay away from that location before trial. If the charge is assault the order may be to have no contact with the victim. Most of the time the Defendant has no problem abiding by the order and no desire to try to get the order lifted.
However, there are times a Defendant does want the order lifted. In those instances, can the order be changed? The answer is that yes, a pretrial stay away order or no contact order can be amended or removed, and having an attorney can achieve that goal.
The most typical example of this is a domestic violence case where a person is accused of assaulting his or her spouse. The accused has been arrested and now faces charges. The Court agrees to release the defendant but only under the condition that the accused has no contact with his or her husband or wife, and that he or she stays away from the family home. This is obviously very disruptive to the person’s life, as in addition to being accused of a crime that person is now forced to be apart from his or her family while awaiting trial.
Judges have the discretion of reviewing these stay away orders, similar to the way they would review a bond if the Defendant was being held in jail prior to trial. Our office has experience handling these matters throughout Maryland and will assess the case and determine the best avenue to pursue based on the individual circumstances. What we can usually do is request a hearing so that the Judge who ordered the stay away/no contact order can review that decision. If our client’s wife or husband wishes to have contact or wishes for the spouse to return and does not fear or feel threatened by the spouse, we will make sure to obtain that information and present it to the Court at the hearing.
Have a no contact or stay away order from your wife or husband in Maryland and need to have that order lifted? Contact our office today at 301-875-3472. Consultations are free. Our office can assist you in getting your life back on track while you await for trial, and also present the best defense possible for your case.