I am in the process of a nasty divorce. On April 1 my built-up anger and rage exploded in me doing damage to my soon-to-be-exhusband's condo. I put a few dents in a wall with a shoe, made a dent in the vinyl flooring in his kitchen, wrecked a TV by pulling it from the wall, and pulled 3 screens off windows. I was arrested and charged with Criminal Damage to Property - Domestic Violence (because the victim was my husband).

I have a pretrial conference scheduled for Monday. Today I received a letter from the Asst. DA stating that in order to resolve the matter without a trial I have 2 options:

1. Pay restitution of $1232 upfront and plead guilty or no contest to the charge. The recommended sentence would be a $200 fine plus court costs.

2. If unable to pay the restitution of $1232 upfront, plead guilty or no contest to the charge with a recommended sentence of one year probation. Conditions of probation would be to obtain a domestic violence assessment with follow-up, attend any recommended counseling, pay restitution of $1232, and pay court costs.

I have not hired an attorney for the matter because I believe it would just end up costing me more with the outcome likely to be the same. I am very financially strapped right now. I do not have a pot to piss in.

The attorney representing me in the divorce, although she is not a criminal lawyer, has recommended that I plead not guilty and try to get the charges reduced to Disorderly Conduct. I have a previously spotless record. Is this a real possibility? If so what would the implications of a charge reduction be and how would I approach this at the pretrial conference?

Will the restitution amount remain the same no matter what? I believe the damage does not warrant $1232. How would I address this?

I do not have $1232 to pay upfront unless I find a way to borrow it. Would it be worth my while to do so?

What can I expect the court costs to be?

Any help is most sincerely appreciated...

Sweet Pea

What should you do, hire a real criminal attorney, what court would appoint you a civil attorney for a ciminal trial.

First if you have a domestic violence conviction ( found guilty or plead guity) on your record it will stop you from holding several various jobs and normally stop you from owning a firearm legally.

If you had an attorney, they would make a counter offer to the DA for payment of actual repay costs and... Then your attorney would plea bargain if that is what you wanted to do.

Good for you girl!! Id like to do the same but don't know where to start