Challenging a Risk of Injury Arrest in Westport

Effectively challenging a risk of injury arrest in Westport could be crucial to protecting your freedom and your family’s best interests. A qualified risk of injury attorney could provide the custom-tailored support you may need to proactively enforce your rights and pursue a positive resolution to your uniquely sensitive case.

How to Deal with DCF Investigations Effectively

Being accused of intentionally or negligently placing your child at risk of serious harm is classified as a high-level felony offense, which means that a criminal conviction could result in years of imprisonment on top of any investigations into your home life conducted by the Department of Children and Families as well as any consequences that may be passed down in family court.

Regardless of whether a risk of injury charge ends with the defendant being convicted of any criminal offense, DCF will always use the arrest itself as grounds to open an investigation into the defendant to determine if they pose a risk of causing future physical or emotional harm to any children within their household. If investigators find evidence to substantiate this suspicion, the DCF Commissioner may recommend the imposition of a protective order, limitations on custody and visitation rights, and/or other sanctions, depending on the circumstances.

While it is important to cooperate with investigators to a reasonable extent and be honest when asked specific questions, it is also important that you do not provide unnecessary information or phrase statements in vague or potentially incriminating ways. In this way, guidance from a seasoned Westport defense attorney can be vital to challenging your risk of injury accusation.

Defining Risk of Injury as a Criminal Offense

When it comes to challenging a risk of injury arrest in a Westport criminal court, effective defense strategies are generally constructed around proving that one or more core elements of the underlying criminal charge were not present in the defendant’s actions. If prosecutors cannot prove that a defendant fulfilled all components of a criminal offense in Connecticut beyond a reasonable doubt, they cannot convict that defendant for that specific violation.

Under Connecticut General Statutes (C.G.S.) §53-21, there are four ways in which a person may commit the crime of “injury or risk of injury” to children:

• Willfully or unlawfully putting their own child in imminent danger of physical harm or in a situation that is likely to cause them physical or mental harm;
• Selling legal or physical custody of their own child to someone else for money or anything of value, except for adoptions conducted in accordance with state law;
• Engaging in sexual contact with their own child; and
• Leaving a child younger than 12 unsupervised in a public place or motor vehicle long enough to put them in danger of physical harm.

If someone is accused of putting their child in imminent danger of harm, demonstrating that the defendant did not do so intentionally could be enough to avoid a conviction for risk of injury as defined under this statute.

Seek Help from a Westport Attorney with Challenging a Risk of Injury Arrest

The best strategy for contesting risk of injury allegations will vary substantially from case to case and person to person. Regardless of your unique circumstances, challenging a risk of injury arrest in Westport could be much easier with assistance from a qualified defense attorney. Click here to read Mark Sherman’s 300+ certified client reviews on Avvo.com, and call today to discuss your options.