How can you defend against probation violation allegations?

We all make mistakes. Sometimes they don’t end up having much of an impact on our life, but in other instances they can result in criminal charges. If that’s happened to you and you accepted your mistake, then you might’ve taken a plea deal that resulted in probation.

As part of that probation, you’re required to strictly adhere to the terms placed upon you. But if your probation officer thinks that you’ve slipped up, then you could be facing a probation violation, which, if improperly defended against, could result in more significant penalties being thrust upon you, including jail time.

Ways to defend against an alleged probation violation

While you certainly have the option to admit to a probation violation, you might better protect yourself if you fight against it. Here, are some ways that you could do that:

• Provide an alibi: Your probation violation might claim that you were somewhere you’re not supposed to be, but if you can have witnesses testify that that information is inaccurate, then you might raise enough doubt so as to beat your probation violation charges.
• Lack of knowledge: The court and your probation officer should have been very clear with you as far as what your probation entails. But the truth of the matter is that the restrictions placed upon you aren’t always clear. If you lacked knowledge of an aspect of your probation that you violated, then you might be able to successfully argue that you shouldn’t be penalized.
• Unrelated terms: the terms of your probation might not be related to your underlying offense. If this is the case, then you might be able to argue that the restriction that you’re accused of violating never should have been in place to begin with.
• Fight to show that you didn’t violate: Of course, depending on what you’re accused of doing or not doing, you might simply be able to argue the facts of the alleged violation. Here, you’ll need to make sure that you’ve got evidence to support your position.

Don’t let a probation violation upend your life

Probation violations can carry pretty significant penalties that can affect many aspects of your life. If you’d like to avoid that kind of outcome, then you need to know you defense options and how to effectively utilize them. If you need assistance in that area, then it might be time to discuss your situation with an experienced criminal defense attorney.