When facing criminal charges of any kind, the one thing you want to do is prove your innocence. This is especially true if you face domestic violence charges in Washington. Such a charge can be quite damaging to your reputation and life. However, often these cases are your word against the other person’s word. It can be tough for both sides to make a case. So, you may bring in character witnesses who can speak to who you are as a person and how these charges do not fit with your personality or regular actions.
According to Chron, character witnesses can make a huge impact in a domestic violence case, but it is not always a positive one. The key with this type of witness is getting the jury to trust and like the person. If the jury does not feel they can trust the word of this person, then he or she could do more harm than good.
This goes for witnesses from both sides and does not always just impact character witnesses. Juries are easily swayed based on the impression they get from a witness. Someone who comes off badly to the jury will provide useless testimony. However, a bad prosecution witness could help you.
This means you have to choose your character witnesses carefully. You need people who are likable and who can effectively get the message across that this type of crime is not something you would do. This information is for education and is not legal advice.