WHAT HAPPENS IF THE DEFENDANT VIOLATES THE TPO?

Under Georgia Law ( O.C.G.A. 19-13-6), there are two consequences for violating the provisions established by a TPO. These consequences can either be civil or criminal in nature.

CIVIL VIOLATION OF TPO:

O.C.G.A. 19-13-6 (a) provides: "A violation of an order issued pursuant to this article may be punished by an action for contempt."

CRIMINAL VIOLATION OF A TPO:

O.C.G.A. 16-13-6 (b) provides: "Any person who violates the provisions of a domestic violence order which excludes, evicts, or excludes and evicts that person from a residence or household shall be guilty of a misdemeanor."

Civil consequences occur when the TPO does not specifically state that the defendant is evicted or excluded from the plaintiff’s (victim) residence. This type of protective order is commonly referred to by law enforcement as a "stay-away only order." If a violation occurs under an order of this type, the only option for the victim is to take the defendant back into court and ask the judge to hold him/her in contempt for violating the TPO.

Criminal consequences occur when the TPO specifically states that the defendant is to be evicted or excluded from the victim’s residence. If the TPO has this eviction / exclusion language and the defendant violates the provisions of the TPO, the defendant may be charged with the misdemeanor offense of Violation of a Temporary Protective Order (19-13-6 (b)).

Evidence Involving Violation of a TPO

In cases where a no contact order is in effect, batterers will often find other means of communicating with their victims and use the excuse that they were just apologizing, requesting forgiveness, or trying to convince the partner of how much they are loved. When in fact, sometimes this type of communication is a very effective way for the batterer to tell the victim: "I still know where you are; I can still contact you; and no order is going to prevent me from contacting you."

NO CONTACT MEANS NO CONTACT

Following are common examples of how some batterers will violate no contact orders:

Should these incidents occur while a TPO is in effect, the victim should document the incident and call the police for further documentation and assistance. Remember, these contacts in any other context may be innocent, but may also violate the provisions of a TPO. Collect any evidence you can for use in possible criminal cases against the batterer.

OTHER IMPORTANT FACTORS TO CONSIDER WITH TPO’S

It is important to remember that a batterer may be committing a new and separate crime if he/she violates some conditions of the TPO. For example, if the TPO does not have the exclusion / eviction language, but this person has been told to keep off of the victim’s property, if the batterer continues to come to the victim’s property, he/she may be charged with criminal trespass. Also, if the defendant continues to contact, harass, or telephone the victim after he/she has been told not to do so, the defendant may be charged with the offense of harassing phone calls.

This type of continued contact could also lead to stalking and / or aggravated stalking charges:

(a) A person commits the offense of stalking when he or she follows, places under surveillance, or contacts another person at or about a place or places without the consent of the other person for the purpose of harassing and intimidating the other person. For the purpose of this article, the term "place or places" shall include any public or private property occupied by the victim other than the residence of the defendant. For the purposes of this article, the term "harassing and intimidating" means a knowing and willful course of conduct directed at a specific person which causes emotional distress by placing such person in reasonable fear of death or bodily harm to himself or herself or to a member of his or her immediate family, and which serves no legitimate purpose. This Code section shall not be construed to require that an overt threat of death or bodily injury has been made.

(b) Except as provided in subsection ( c ) of this Code section, a person who commits the offense of stalking is guilty of a misdemeanor.

(c ) Upon the second conviction, and all subsequent convictions, for stalking the defendant shall be guilty of a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one year nor more than five years.

(a) A person commits the offense of aggravated stalking when such person, in violation of a bond to keep the peace posted pursuant to Code Section 17-6-110, temporary restraining order, temporary protective order, permanent restraining order, permanent protective order, preliminary injunction, or permanent injunction or condition of pretrial release, condition of probation, or condition of parole in effect prohibiting the behavior described in the subsection, follows, places under surveillance, or contacts another person at or about a place or places without the consent of the other person for the purpose of harassing and intimidating the other person.

(b) Any person convicted of a violation of subsection (a) of the Code section shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than ten years and by a fine of not more than $10,000.00. The provisions of subsection (d) of Code Section 16-5-90 apply to sentencing for conviction of aggravated stalking.