Attending Court When a Protective Order Names You as Protected

Attorney Answer

You can go — courtrooms are open, and as the person the order protects, you cannot be prosecuted for a violation. But she can be, and what she faces is a felony. So the question is not whether you may attend; it is whether your presence puts her in violation.

The exposure is hers, not yours. General Statutes § 53a-223 makes criminal violation of a protective order a class D felony, and a class C felony where the violation involves restraining the protected person's liberty or threatening, harassing, assaulting, molesting, sexually assaulting or attacking that person. The same section provides that a protected person cannot be criminally liable for aiding or conspiring in the violation. That is the reassurance you were looking for, and it is worth stating plainly because most people in your position assume they are at risk too. You are not. She is — and approaching her, speaking to her, or trying to signal her at the courthouse is precisely the conduct that can push a violation from the class D level toward the class C level.

Read the actual order before you decide anything. Whether mere physical presence in a public courtroom violates a no-contact condition depends entirely on the words of the specific order. Family violence protective orders are issued under General Statutes § 46b-38c(e). Section 54-1k authorizes protective orders on arrest in cases of stalking, harassment, sexual assault and risk of injury to a child. Conditions of release generally are governed by § 54-64a. These are different instruments with different terms — full no-contact, stay-away from a residence, or a partial order permitting contact but prohibiting threatening or harassing conduct. She or her lawyer should confirm the exact language before the hearing rather than guessing at it.

On speaking to the judge. You will not be permitted to address the court on your own initiative. The people who can be heard are the prosecutor, defense counsel, and the defendant. But the prosecutor's position on the protective order is where your view actually lands, and the state's attorney and the courthouse family relations counselor and victim advocate will speak with you. That is the route — not a speech from the gallery.

What you can do

1. Before the hearing, get the exact terms of the order. Have her or her lawyer read the order aloud to you, or ask the clerk's office. Do not act on a summary of what someone said in court. 2. If it is a full no-contact order, attend without contact. Sit apart, do not approach her, do not speak to her, do not pass notes or messages through anyone, and leave separately. Contact you initiate can still be charged against her. 3. Arrive early and ask for the victim advocate and the family relations counselor. Tell them you do not want the no-contact condition and that you want it modified. Ask them how to convey that to the prosecutor before the case is called. 4. Speak to the prosecutor if the advocate can arrange it. Be factual about the relationship and what you want. Understand the decision belongs to the court and the state, not to you — being the protected person does not give you the power to lift the order. 5. Do not call, text or message her in the meantime. Every one of those exchanges is potential evidence of a violation by her, whatever your intentions. 6. Make sure she has counsel. If she cannot afford one, she should apply for a public defender at the arraignment. Whether the order is modified is usually decided there. 7. Do not offer the fact that she was drunk as the explanation. It is not a defense, and volunteering it can make the prosecutor's case easier rather than her position more sympathetic.

⏱ Time limits apply. The protective order in a family violence case is issued and reviewed under General Statutes § 46b-38c(e), and the arraignment is normally the first and best opportunity to ask for it to be modified. If you want to be heard, be at the courthouse early enough to reach the victim advocate before the case is called.