Restraining and Protective Orders

If you need an Orange County Restraining Order Lawyer then contact Mr. Bruzzo at (714) 547-4636.

The Civil Code permits individuals to seek and have granted court orders which prohibits the restrained person from calling them, seeing them or even sending them letters. There are two stages to the process:

• A Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) Hearing: In a restraining order the first thing to do is to ask the court to grant an immediate order restraining the person from having contact with person seeking the order. An attempt must be made to notify the other person of the TRO hearing but this may be done by telephone. Regardless of whether the TRO is granted a date is set to hear the permanent restraining order matter about 3-weeks later. If the TRO is granted the restrained person can have no contact with the person who requested the order. If the person violated the order then he can be arrested for violating a court order and charged with a criminal act.
• A Restraining Order (RO) Hearing: This hearing is conducted like a regular civil hearing where all the rules of evidence apply. The person seeking the order must show by clear and convincing evidence that the person who is being restrained has threatened them or harassed them sufficiently to deserve a restraining order. Witnesses and the parties themselves may testify at this hearing under oath. It is then left to the Judge to make the final decision. A restraining order hearing can result in a 3-year order where the restrained person may have no contact with the person who requested the order. In addition, the existence of the restraining order gets reported on the CLETS system which means that all law enforcement are made aware of the order. Also, background checks may reveal the existence of a restraining order.

Similar to a Restraining Order is a Protective Order. A Protective Order also prohibits or limits contact between two people. Such an order however can only be brought by a Judge and usually accompanies a criminal case. Protective Orders are usually seen in Domestic Violence cases. In Orange County a Protective Order in a domestic violence case can only be lifted or permit contact if the victim takes several Personal EmPowerment (PEP) classes.

Mr. Bruzzo has tremendous experience successfully representing clients on restraining and protective orders.