Charges of domestic assault are highly emotional and stressful for those involved. During divorce cases especially, emotions such as anger and jealousy can lead to false allegations being made.
Defences against domestic assault often centre around the credibility of the complainant’s story when compared with the available evidence, such as witness testimony, phone records, video evidence, etc.
Another of the best defences is self-defence, though this can only be successfully argued when:
Force is being used against you, or you had reasonable grounds to believe that force would be used against you;
Your response to the threat was for the purpose of defending or protecting yourself from the threat or use of force;
Your response was reasonable in the circumstances (depending on proportional force being used, your size compared to the complainant, and whether you were intoxicated at the time)
Violation of your Charter Rights by law enforcement is another commonly used defence in domestic assault cases. This can often lead to evidence being excluded and the prosecution’s case being severely weakened.