Pregnant Women and Aggravated Battery: What You Should Know
Pregnancy carries risks. If you’re pregnant, you might have a difficult time with aches and pains and other potentially more serious problems. Easy pregnancies happen as well, and women who go through them can feel lucky to some degree.
You also face another health risk during pregnancy, though. Unfortunately, abusive partners often target pregnant women. You stand a higher chance of your partner striking you or doing something similar during your pregnancy. Many credible studies reveal this.
In this article, we’ll discuss aggravated battery, a charge the legal system can bring against someone who abuses a pregnant woman. You should know about this charge, including what causes it and what you can do if you feel at risk.
What Does Aggravated Battery Mean?
If someone abuses you while you’re pregnant, it’s likely you know that person. From a statistical standpoint, they’re probably your spouse or partner. This happens far too often, and when it does, the pregnant individual and their unborn child can suffer harm.
Aggravated battery means physical contact with a person that causes serious damage. That contact occurs without the injured party’s consent. The person who perpetrates this act does so intending harm. In other words, there’s a premeditation element that the prosecutor will likely emphasize during the trial if one ever occurs.
How Can You Prove Aggravated Battery?
Let’s run through a scenario. You’re pregnant and live with your spouse. You have an argument. Your spouse becomes physically abusive and eventually strikes you.
You lock yourself in the bathroom and use your smartphone. You call 911, and the police arrive shortly afterward.
You can explain what happened, and if you have a black eye or a bloody nose, that’s evidence that indicates you’re telling the truth. The police will likely arrest your spouse since they can see they harmed you, and there’s clear-cut evidence.
You can visit a doctor or hospital and get treatment. You must do that because you should see whether you’re okay, but also whether your spouse harmed the fetus at all.
You can document your injuries. You might have the doctor take pictures and notes regarding the visit as well. You might use those later if you must appear at trial.
The More Evidence You Have, the Better
If you have plenty of physical evidence suggesting your spouse or partner assaulted you, you can probably get a restraining order. A judge will likely grant you one if you can show them the pictures or videos documenting your injuries.
You might also produce the police report and show the judge. You can show the doctor’s notes who treated you after the incident.
If you have eyewitness testimony, that’s even better. Maybe your neighbor can take the stand. Perhaps they heard what happened that night. Maybe they can say your spouse or partner has a bad temper, and they’ve done something similar before.
If your spouse or partner commits battery in public, you might have even more eyewitnesses who can take the stand on your behalf. Maybe some video evidence exists if the assault occurred in public. You might produce security footage if you’re by a gas station, club, restaurant, etc.
These days, you probably notice more cameras when you’re out and about than ever before. Those might help you in a situation like this. The video evidence can show abusive behavior, and the judge will use the law’s full weight against your spouse or partner.
The Police Must Arrest Your Spouse or Partner if They Suspect Abuse
You should understand that if your spouse or partner harmed you, the court system must prosecute them. The police must arrest them as well.
Maybe, even if your spouse or partner harmed you, you’d prefer that the police not arrest them. You might need that spouse or partner’s income. You know you won’t have that income if the police detain and incarcerate your significant other.
Some pregnant women feel that their spouse or partner made a mistake once, and they will not do it again. This cycle of violence likely won’t end, though. It might only escalate. Again, many studies show this pattern.
The police will always act if they feel you’re in danger, though. They’ll do that even if you’re not pregnant, but your pregnancy makes the situation even more urgent. Even if you say you won’t press charges, the police and the court system can still bring them. If there’s enough evidence, they can get a conviction, whether you want one or not.
The Court System Can Make You Testify
Even if you feel sure your partner or spouse won’t do the same thing again and it was just an isolated incident, the police won’t care. If they think your spouse committed aggravated battery, they can secure a lengthy jail sentence, especially if your spouse has a prior criminal record.
The judge can make you testify. You must tell the truth at trial since you’re under oath. Even if you love your spouse or partner, you might say something that puts them away. You may feel sorrowful or even guilty.
Remember, though, that someone who strikes you, pushes you, or does something else constituting aggravated battery does not love you. They may say they do, and they might say they’re sorry after the fact, but love never gets physical. It’s gentle and caring. Anyone who doesn’t acknowledge that or feels differently won’t make a good partner or a suitable parent once the baby arrives.
If your spouse or partner batters you when you’re pregnant, and they face jail time afterward, you might feel many emotions. If you said something on the stand that put them away, you might feel lost or distraught in the days and weeks following the verdict.
You should find your life gets better at this point, though. Perhaps you can find someone who loves you and doesn’t convey their feelings using violence. You deserve that, and your unborn child does as well.