Charged With Domestic Violence in July? Why Summer Is Michigan's Peak Season

Domestic violence calls climb every summer in Michigan, and July is consistently the highest month. The pattern isn't mysterious: heat, extended daylight, school out, family visiting, cookouts running from noon to midnight, and alcohol present across all of it, layered over financial pressure and disrupted routines. Most of the people arrested in these cases have no criminal history at all, which means most of them are learning the system for the first time from the wrong side of a patrol car, hours after a gathering that started as a normal summer afternoon. If that's you right now, here's what you're actually facing, and why the decisions you make before your arraignment matter more than anything that happened in the backyard.

What does Michigan actually charge?

There's no offense called "domestic violence" in the Michigan Penal Code. What exists is assault and battery under MCL 750.81, with an enhanced provision when it's committed against a person in a defined relationship: a spouse or former spouse, someone with whom you have a child in common, someone you're dating or dated, or a current or former resident of the same household. A first offense is a 93 day misdemeanor with a fine up to $500, a second offense is a one year misdemeanor, and a third is a five year felony. The related charges are where summer cases escalate. Aggravated domestic violence under MCL 750.81a is a one year misdemeanor when a serious injury results without a weapon, with a second offense charged as a two year felony. Felonious assault under MCL 750.82 is a four year felony when a dangerous weapon was involved. And assault by strangulation under MCL 750.84 is a 10 year felony covering any impeding of breathing or circulation by pressure on the neck, with no visible injury required, a charge that appears far more often than people expect once an officer starts asking pointed questions about what happened.

Why is someone going to jail even if nobody wants charges?

Under MCL 764.15a, a Michigan officer who has reasonable cause to believe a domestic assault occurred shall arrest the person, whether or not the assault was witnessed and whether or not the complaining party wants an arrest. Two consequences follow. First, someone is going to jail: officers arriving at a cookout where two people are yelling will make an arrest decision on the spot, based on visible injury, statements made in the first two minutes, and who appears to be the primary aggressor, and that determination is often wrong. Second, the complaining witness can't drop the charges, which is the single most common misunderstanding in these cases. Charging decisions belong to the prosecutor. A spouse who called 911 in anger and regrets it by morning has no authority to end the case, and prosecutors routinely proceed over a recanting witness using the 911 recording, body camera footage, and photographs taken at the scene.

What does the no contact order mean for going home?

At arraignment, the court will almost certainly impose a no contact condition, and it reaches further than people anticipate. It typically prohibits all direct contact with the complaining witness, indirect contact through friends, family, or children, all phone, text, email, and social media communication, and returning to a shared residence, even one you own or pay for. People leave the jail and discover they can't go home, can't retrieve clothing or medication, and can't call to explain, and the instinct to send one message making things right is exactly the trap: violating the order, including with a single apologetic text, is a separate offense that can get your bond revoked. A defense attorney can move to modify these conditions, and courts do grant modifications when there are children, shared finances, or a complaining witness who supports the request, but it takes a motion, not a phone call.

What happens to your firearms?

A domestic violence conviction triggers 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(9), a federal prohibition on possessing firearms or ammunition. It's permanent, it applies to misdemeanor convictions, and no Michigan expungement removes it. For anyone who hunts, holds a CPL, works in law enforcement or security, or serves in the military, this is often the most serious consequence of the entire case, and it attaches to a quick plea just as completely as it attaches to a conviction after trial. That's a large part of why the resolution path matters so much more here than in an ordinary misdemeanor.

How does the MCL 769.4a deferral work?

Michigan provides a deferral specifically for first offense domestic violence. Under MCL 769.4a, with the prosecutor's consent, given after consulting with the victim, the court may accept a guilty plea without entering a judgment of conviction, place the defendant on probation with conditions that typically include counseling and a batterer's intervention program, and dismiss the charge on successful completion. The dismissal is nonpublic, it's available once in a lifetime, and critically, because no conviction ever enters, the federal firearm prohibition never attaches. This provision is the reason a first offense domestic case should never be resolved with a quick plea at arraignment: the window for 769.4a closes once a conviction enters, and it doesn't reopen.

What defenses actually work?

Michigan's Self Defense Act applies fully in domestic cases, and once self defense is raised, the prosecution has to disprove it beyond a reasonable doubt. The wrong person being arrested is extremely common: the person with visible injuries is often the aggressor, defensive wounds look different from offensive ones, and officers rarely evaluate that distinction at a chaotic scene. Sometimes no assault occurred at all, because yelling isn't assault, blocking a doorway may or may not be, and property damage is a different charge entirely. When the 911 call, the scene statement, and later testimony diverge, credibility becomes the central issue, and a pending divorce, a custody dispute, or immigration considerations are all legitimate areas of inquiry into a motive to fabricate, as is intoxication of the complaining witness affecting the reliability of their account. None of these defenses build themselves, though, and all of them depend on evidence that starts disappearing the morning after the arrest.

What should you preserve, and what should you not do?

Start with your own body: photograph every injury on you, from multiple angles, over several days as bruising develops, and get medical records with an accurate account of how the injuries occurred. Keep all text messages and call logs, and don't delete anything, including messages that seem bad for you, because deletion can support an obstruction allegation. Collect names and numbers of everyone who was present, photograph the scene including any property damage, and pull any home security or doorbell footage before it overwrites. Body camera footage and the 911 audio should be requested through counsel promptly. Just as important is what not to do: don't contact the complaining witness, not to apologize, not to explain, not through a friend; don't discuss the case on jail phone lines, because every call is recorded and prosecutors listen to them; don't give a statement to police without counsel; and don't violate any bond condition, even one that seems unreasonable. Beyond the criminal penalties, a conviction carries the permanent firearm prohibition, serious weight in custody and parenting time determinations, immigration consequences (domestic violence convictions are deportable offenses), employment and professional licensing fallout, trouble on housing applications, and mandatory counseling and intervention programming, which is the full price of handling the first week badly.

The first 48 hours set the trajectory

Domestic charges arising in Plymouth, Plymouth Township, Canton, and Northville are arraigned in the 35th District Court in Plymouth, and felony charges (strangulation, felonious assault, third offense domestic) proceed through preliminary examination before bind over to Wayne County Circuit Court. These cases move fast, and the decisions made in the first two days, whether to give a statement, whether to plead at arraignment, whether to preserve evidence, largely determine whether the case ends in a 769.4a dismissal or a permanent conviction with a lifetime firearm ban. That early work is exactly what an experienced assault and domestic violence defense lawyer is for. Call Boria Law at (734) 453-7806 today, before your arraignment if at all possible. Attorney Aaron J. Boria has taken domestic violence cases to dismissal, deferral, and verdict in the 35th District Court, and his job is making sure one July afternoon doesn't get to decide the rest of the year, or the rest of your record.

Quick answers

Does a 769.4a dismissal show up on background checks?

No public record survives a completed deferral. The plea is taken without a judgment of conviction, the case is dismissed on successful completion, and the file is nonpublic, so ordinary employment background checks won't show it, though courts and police retain access. Because no conviction ever enters, the federal firearm prohibition doesn't attach either, which is often the most valuable feature of the deferral.

How do I get my clothes and medication if I can't go home?

Not by going back, and not by texting to arrange it, because both violate the no contact order. Your attorney can move to modify the bond conditions or arrange a police escorted civil standby so you can retrieve essentials. It feels absurd to need a court filing to pick up a prescription from your own house, but the alternative is a bond violation that puts you back in jail while the case is pending.

Can a domestic violence conviction be expunged later?

Sometimes, by petition and after a waiting period, though a felony domestic conviction with a prior domestic misdemeanor can't be. More importantly, expungement doesn't undo the federal firearm prohibition under 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(9), which survives a Michigan set aside. The only clean exit is preventing the conviction in the first place, which is what the 769.4a deferral exists to do.

Related reading

• Michigan Assault Charges After a Bar Fight in Downtown Plymouth
• Michigan Assault Charges at County Fairs: What a Midway Fight Actually Costs
• Your First Court Date in the 35th District Court: A Complete Walkthrough