A personal protection order is designed to keep a person from either assaulting, beating, entering the property where a person lives or attends school, wounding or molesting a certain individual. A personal protection order has certain aspects that are going to be important to understand. Because of this, it is extremely important you work with an experienced domestic violence attorney who has a lot of experience dealing with PPO’s and therefore knows how to advise his clients how to abide by these orders.
Common Restrictions from a Personal Protection Order
These orders given out in Michigan courts always require a person to cease engaging in certain activities including:
- Contacting by phone,
- Physically following,
- Appearing in the victim’s sight,
- Having an object or putting an object on the property of an owner,
- Appearing within sight,
- Showing up at the person’s workplace or residence,
- Keeping a person from stopping another person from removing their personal property on a premise that they own,
- Confronting an individual or approaching them in private or public property,
- Sending communication to a person such as an e-mail,
- Keeping a person from entering a place of employment by an individual or taking steps to make sure a person is not able to get employment by harassment or other means.
Other PPO Conditions
Any person that has the ability to gather records that concern a minor child, such as records that include a telephone number, an address, employment address can use that information to cause physical or mental distress or control over a person. A personal protection order tries to prevent that from happening. A ppo can also order another person not to injure, torture, neglect an animal that a person has ownership interest in and prevent others from removing an animal that is in another person’s possession.
A PPO can prevent a person from getting possession of or purchasing an animal. These orders can also prevent a person from possession, owning and purchasing a firearm.
After a person has filed the required paperwork at court and served the other person the personal protection order or served the other party a notice that a hearing is coming up, the party must appear in court by themselves or with an attorney. If there is a lawyer present at court, the lawyer must explain to the judge why the order is no longer needed or invalid. In some circumstances, the attorney may only argue that certain conditions are of the ppo are no longer required or appropriate.
Protective Order Violations
If there is a ppo order out on a person because of a domestic violence charge, a person can be punished by up to 93 days in jail for violating this order as well as a $500 fine. When there is a personal protection order out in Michigan for a domestic violence charge or conviction, a new charge of domestic violence is probably not needed and inappropriate. A new charge could violate the double jeopardy right in the United States Constitution.
Three Types of Personal Protection Orders
There are three types of PPOs:
- Domestic RelationshipPPO
- Nondomestic (Stalking) PPO
- Nondomestic Sexual Assault PPO
One type of PPO is a Domestic Relationship order. A judge will grant this order when it shown that an abuser is likely to stalk, harass, assault and threaten a person that they have a domestic relationship with.
A nondomestic stalking ppo will be issued when the victim does not have a domestic relationship with the person. In order to grant this type of protective order, the judge must be shown that there were at least two incidents of harassment. Harassment is contact that a person does not want to have with another person. Harassment serves no valid purpose and causes fear or emotional harm. It must be something that would cause a reasonable person to suffer harm or fear.
Finally, there is a nondomestic sexual assault ppo. This protective order is designed to protect a person who has been sexually assault of threatened with sexual assault. There does not need to be a domestic relationship in order to establish this personal protection order. If a victim is under the age of 18, this would include giving them obscene material.
If you have any questions regarding these protective orders, a no contact order or have a court date set for a hearing on this matter, please contact me today at 616-438-6719. The call is free, so you have nothing to lose by calling me right now!