How Do I Get An Order of Protection If I Was The One Who Was Arrested?

The short and not so-sweet answer is you probably CANNOT obtain an order of protection if you were the one who was arrested. Even if there’s a documented history of abuse, the other person landed the proverbial first punch by getting you arrested, and very few police officers or detectives will go out of their way to help you.

Over the last 21 years, I’ve represented hundreds of people who have been arrested as a result of phony allegations of violence. After the arrest, a judge will issue an order of protection stating that the defendant must stay away from the complainant and cannot contact him/her via phone, e-mail or text.

When the arrested person comes to see me for a consultation, he/she inevitably asks how to obtain an order of protection against the complainant. If the complainant is a family member or the parent of the defendant’s child, the defendant can file a petition in Family Court seeking an order of protection. There’s no guarantee that this will work, but it’s worth a try. If there’s no “family” connection, then Family Court is not an option and there’s no way to obtain any type of “stay away” order.

This is the sad but true current state of the law in New York. Thus, the best thing to do is to retain an experienced criminal defense attorney to help you resolve the case as quickly as possible through a trial or a plea bargain deal.