We understand: a Pennsylvania protection from abuse proceeding can be a rollercoaster of roiling emotions. Learning that a spouse or other intimate partner plans to ask the court to restrain you, even to evict you from your house and keep you from seeing your kids, can be a gut punch like no other. Getting served with a surprise PFA order that effectively makes you homeless and destitute can panic anyone, even the most stable, confident, and secure person. But the one thing that a PFA defendant should not be doing is making an already bad situation worse. The PFA defendant must know, believe, and embrace that the defendant can face a PFA order with resolve and dignity. Don't make a PFA worse by rash action. Instead, keep your powder dry and emotions in check. Retain our premier Pennsylvania PFA Criminal Law Team and the LLF Law Firm. Dignity, not despair.

What Not to Do When Facing a PFA Order

Two recent cases show what not to do when facing a PFA order or PFA order request. In the first case, a press report indicates that an Archbald resident defendant allegedly returned and set his house on fire after his ex-girlfriend, who also lived in the home, forced him out of the home with a PFA order. Fortunately, the ex-girlfriend was not right then at home. Prosecutors charged the man with arson and violating the PFA order after surveillance video allegedly confirmed the man's forced entry into the home, where he allegedly admitted having left a lit cigarette on a box to burn down the home. Violating a PFA order is a serious charge. Adding arson to the mix significantly elevates the seriousness of that crime.

In the other case, another press report indicates that a Pittsburgh resident defendant allegedly threatened his housemate that the house would be gone when she got back from getting a PFA order. The housemate left anyway to get the order, after police had refused to arrest the defendant on her 9-1-1 call. The report summarizes the statements of neighbors and other witnesses that the defendant allegedly then set resolutely out to burn down his home. The defendant allegedly succeeded only in killing two cats inside while getting black smoke billowing out of the house from two burning sofas inside. Prosecutors charged the defendant with five counts of arson, three counts of criminal mischief, two counts of cruelty to animals, and risking a catastrophe, all felony crimes.

What to Do When Facing a PFA Order

Let cooler heads prevail. Get the skilled and experienced Pennsylvania PFA attorney representation you need. You can face, defend, and defeat a PFA order request with dignity when you have the attorney representation you deserve and need. If you face a Pennsylvania PFA order, retain our Pennsylvania PFA Criminal Law Team and the LLF Law Firm for your representation now. Call 888-535-3686 or go online now.