4 Things Not to Do If Arrested for Family Violence

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We lay out the four biggest mistakes people make after a family violence arrest and show how to avoid new charges, warrants, and stress. We also explain how a trusted attorney can seek safer bond terms, keep you compliant, and protect long‑term rights.

• what no contact and emergency protective orders actually restrict
• how violations create new criminal charges and warrants
• why bondsman and pretrial check‑ins matter and how to stay compliant
• consequences for missing the first court date and how to prevent it
• long‑term risks of family violence convictions for guns, custody, and enhancements
• how to evaluate whether your attorney is responsive, respectful, and strategic
• steps to modify bond or protective terms through your lawyer
• where to get a free checklist and a no‑cost consultation

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Sean Henricksen Law Firm

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210-405-6410

106 S. St. Mary's St., Ste 445

San Antonio, Texas 78205

www.seanhenricksen.com

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Hi, and welcome back to another episode of What to
Expect When You're Arrested.
This is your host, SeanHendrickson, here from the Sean
Hendrickson Law Firm, where wehelp good people like you avoid
the devastating consequences ofcriminal charges.
Today we're going to be talkingabout what not to do if you've
been arrested on a familyviolence charge.
Before we get to that, we dohave a free download for you.

(00:22):
It's five things you should bedoing right now if you've been
arrested.
If you go down in the shownotes, there's a link for that
and we can send that right outto you.
And before I get to thisepisode, we do handle, of
course, criminal defense mattershere in San Antonio.
So if you're being charged witha crime here in San Antonio,
please schedule a freeconsultation with us.
We've got a link for you down inthe show notes where you can

(00:43):
schedule that consultationwithout even having to give us a
call.
Now, if you've been arrested forfamily violence, there are
definitely some things youshould be doing, but there's
also a lot of things you shouldnot be doing.
And today we're going to betalking about those.
One, you should not violate anyno contact orders.
When you are put on bond, whenyou see that judge after you get

(01:03):
arrested, that judge can set ano contact order preventing you
from having contact with peoplewhile you're on bond, which
essentially means as long asyour case is going on.
And he can also issue anemergency protective order,
which again prevents you fromhaving contact with certain
people and may prevent you fromgoing certain places as well.

(01:24):
And the emergency protectiveorder is actually gonna have a
date that it ends on, so makesure that you're aware of that
date.
But that no contact as acondition of bond can last as
long as your case lasts.
And if you violate either ofthese no contact orders, and if
you violate either of these nocontact orders, then you can be
facing another charge, which isviolating our protective order.

(01:44):
And you definitely don't want tobe picking up more charges and
getting arrested again over thesame issue.
So you need to contact yourattorney and see if there's
anything that they can do aboutgetting those no contact orders
removed if you do want to havecontact with the complaining
witness or the alleged victim onthe case.
The next thing that I'm gonnatell you that you need to make

(02:05):
sure you don't do is failing tocheck in with either your bail
bondsmen or pretrial services ifyou're required to check in with
them.
If you fail to check in withyour bail bondsmen, then they're
gonna get off your bond, whichmeans a warrant is gonna go out
for your arrest and your bondcould be increased, and you
don't want either of those tohappen.
Pretrial services, it's asimilar situation.

(02:27):
If you don't check in with themwhen you're supposed to, then
they can issue a violationreport saying that you're not
doing what you're supposed to bedoing, and the judge could issue
a warrant out for your arrest.
And so we definitely don't wantmore warrants going out for your
arrest, which leads us into thethird thing, and that would be
missing your first court date.
Make sure that when you get outof jail, that you mark that

(02:49):
court date down on your calendarand make sure you know when that
is.
Your bail bondsman is probablyalso going to be reminding you
about that court date, but it'svery important that you be there
on that date because if you'renot there, then again, a warrant
is gonna be issued for yourarrest.
These first three items that youdefinitely do not want to do,
which are violating no contactorders, not checking with your

(03:09):
bondsman or pretrial services,or missing your first court
date.
If you do any of those things,then a warrant could be issued
for your arrest.
And so that's why those are thetop three.
Make sure you don't miss any ofthose or violate any of those,
because we definitely don't wantyou getting warrants out for
your arrest.
The last one I'm going to tellyou about is don't settle on an

(03:30):
attorney.
Family violence charges are veryserious, even if you're being
charged with a misdemeanor,because in addition to possible
jail time, fines, and fees andeverything else, there's also a
lot of additional consequences.
It could prevent you from everowning or possessing a gun.
It could prevent you from havingcustody or access to your
children.

(03:51):
If you're ever charged withsomething like this again, it
could lead to that case beingenhanced and it could prevent
you from ever cleaning up yourrecord later on.
And so you definitely want totake this serious.
And it's important that youdon't settle on an attorney.
Whether the attorney that youhave was appointed to you or
whether you're looking to hireone or already have hired one,

(04:11):
if you have an attorney that youdon't trust to be able to get
the result that you want, ifthey're not returning your phone
calls or keeping you up to dateon your case, or if they're
treating you poorly, if they'renot treating you with respect,
then those are all huge redflags that you may need to look
at hiring another attorneybecause you don't want somebody
who's not going to be able tonot only get you a good case in

(04:33):
the end, but help you bereunited with your family right
now, if that's a possibility, orat least explain that process to
you and let you know what toexpect on your case and be able
to answer your questions.
It's stressful enough just beingcharged with a case, especially
when it's a family violencecase.
But if you've got an attorneywho's not there to answer your

(04:54):
questions and they're notreturning those phone calls or
they're not treating yourespectfully, it makes
everything so much morestressful than it has to be.
I hope that this was helpful foryou.
If you have any questions or ifyou're being charged with a
crime here in San Antonio,please feel free to give us a
call at 210 405 6410, or thereis the link down in the show

(05:15):
notes below.
We'd be happy to answer anyquestions you have, discuss your
case with you, and let you knowwhat to expect.
And I hope that you have a greatday.