What is the name of your state? Georgia
Hello, my girlfriend has a case coming up against the state of georgia soon. She was arrested and charged with simple battery. We were both drunk one night and got into an argument and I ended up being slapped, which left a small mark. The people under us called the cops on us and the cop ended up taking her away for the mark on my face. We are still together. What is the average penalty for a small isolated incident? Any there any advice we should know before going in there? Thank you!
While I'm not familiar with the courts and penalties they usually hand down in Georgia, I can offer a guess. She will most likely be fined, placed on probation and required to take anger management classes. They will also order her to not possess or have access to any deadly weapons and/or firearms as a part of her probation. Prior to actually sentencing her, they may request a report from the probation department which helps the judge determine if she is a good candidate for probation or if she will just end up in violation.
Domestic violence cases are nasty and the judge, the courts, the probation officers and police can never do right when something goes wrong. Couples are always getting back together and requesting for the charges to be dropped. But when one person ends up hurting the other or worse, then everyone screams that the law didn't do enough to protect them. The old damned if you do and damned if you don't scenario. So you can expect the courts to look at the assault and mark on your face as a serious indication that someone is out of control, even if you try to pass it off as a minor argument between yourselves.
If the two of you want to show the court that you are taking this incident seriously and taking steps to ensure it will not happen again, you should consider attending some professional counseling on your own and bring proof of doing so with you to court.
Since alcohol was involved, I would also advise attending some AA meetings in your area to get help in that area.
But when you, or rather your girlfriend appears before the judge, she should not make excuses and pass off any blame for losing control. The judge will want to see that she is taking this matter seriously, accepting responsibility for her actions and doing something to make sure she doesn't lose control in the future.
