Órdenes de protección
Diferencia entre una orden de protección civil y una orden de alejamiento penal:
Una orden de protección civil es una orden judicial que obliga a alguien a mantenerse alejado de usted. Puede incluir órdenes de alejamiento de direcciones concretas (como su domicilio, trabajo, colegio, etc.). Si usted y la otra persona viven juntos, puede obligar a la otra persona a abandonar la vivienda compartida mientras esté en vigor la protección civil. También puede incluir órdenes temporales relativas a los hijos compartidos/conjuntos y órdenes temporales relativas al pago de facturas conyugales.
Usted solicita un orden de protección civil by filing paperwork with the courthouse and appearing before a judge or magistrate.
A orden de alejamiento penal is entered automatically in a criminal case to protect the crime victims. You do not appear in court or fill out any paperwork for this type of restraining order. It is only entered when someone is charged with a crime. The criminal restraining order will remain in place until the court modifies the order, the restrained person completes their criminal sentence (including probation), or the criminal charges are dismissed.
Pasos para obtener una orden de protección civil:
Orden de protección temporal:
A temporary civil protection order (TPO) may be issued if the Court finds that an imminent danger exists to the person seeking the protection order. You should always call 911 if you feel that you are in immediate danger.
You will fill out several forms to request a temporary protection order. These are available online and at the Courthouse Self-Help Center for free. You will file these forms at the courthouse in the county where you live or work, where the other person lives or works, or where the incident happened.
If you are seeking a protection order against your spouse or the other parent in a divorce or custody case, you must file for the temporary protection order in the divorce or custody case. If you do not have a divorce or custody case or you are seeking a protection order against someone else, you will file in county court.
If your TPO is granted, you will be given a Temporary Protection Order. The court will also schedule a Permanent Protection Order hearing. This hearing must be held within two weeks (14 days) after you get your TPO.
Servicio:
Before the Court will move forward with the permanent protection order (PPO) hearing, the restrained party (the person the TPO is against) must be personally served with the TPO. The sheriff serves protection orders free of charge, but you need to bring the sheriff the paperwork and request they serve it. Some sheriffs have offices inside the courthouse where you can drop off the paperwork.
Alternatively, anyone over the age of 18 who is not a party to the case can hand deliver the paperwork to the other person. You can also hire a private process server to serve the paperwork. Whoever serves the paperwork will have to fill out and sign a document called a Retorno del servicio form and you will need to file this with the Court or bring it with you to the PPO hearing. The Court will not move forward to a PPO hearing until you have proof of personal service on the other person.
Orden de protección permanente:
There are a few things that could happen at the PPO hearing. You can either (1) request that the protection order be made permanent, (2) agree with the other side that the protection order should be continued on a temporary basis up to one year, or (3) request that the protection order be dismissed. If the other person has been served and does not show up at the hearing, then the protection order will likely be made permanent. If you do not show up at the PPO hearing, the temporary protection order will automatically be dismissed.
If the other person appears in Court or by phone for the hearing and agrees to the protection order being made permanent, the Court will likely make the order permanent.
The temporary protection order can also be continued (extended) for up to 1 year. This can only be done if both you and the restrained person agree to it. Agreeing to extend the Temporary Protection Order will mean that you are guaranteed to have a protection order for the extended period—you do not risk the protection order being completely dismissed after a hearing. The restrained party will often agree to extend the temporary protection order because they don’t want to risk a permanent protection order against them.
Starting on January 1, 2025, if a temporary protection order is continued for one year and the protected person still wants to make the order permanent, they are required to file a motion at least 14 days before the scheduled hearing notifying the court and the restrained person of the intent to pursue a permanent protection order on the date of the scheduled hearing. Some courts are imposing an additional requirement that the protected person allege (claim) violations of the temporary protection order in order to have it be made permanent at the end of the extension.
If you continue the temporary protection order, you should ask the judge what the options are for still making the protection order permanent or what the procedure is when the continuance (extension) is over.
If you wish to have the order made permanent and the other person disagrees with this, the Court will hold a hearing on this issue. This means that you will have an opportunity to tell the Court why you think you need a protection order and what has happened in the past.
Colorado law says that a Temporary Protection Order can be made permanent if there is evidence that the restrained person:
- has committed acts of abuse against you, and
- will continue to commit such abuse without a protection order or will retaliate against you.
Acts of abuse include domestic abuse, including coercive control, stalking, sexual assault, unlawful sexual contact, abuse of an elderly or at-risk adult, or physical assault or threat.
Será muy importante que le cuente al Tribunal todos los detalles que recuerde sobre cualquier incidente de maltrato doméstico, incluidas las fechas en que ocurrieron los incidentes y lo que hizo y dijo exactamente la persona restringida.
Evidence for Protection Orders:
Evidence is any information presented in support of a statement or claim. Evidence includes witness testimony, exhibits (e.g. documents, recordings or other physical evidence), and more.
It may be helpful for you to write down a detailed timeline to help you remember the incidents that have led you to request a protection order against the restrained person. For example, you might organize the timeline by “the first incident of violence,” “the most recent incident,” and “the worst incident.”
Restrained parties in a protection order case will often deny that anything has happened, so the more evidence you can provide, the better.
Evidence includes your testimony and any witness testimony. Evidence also includes photos, copies of text messages, emails, audio recordings or video recordings. If there are any witnesses who saw these abusive incidents or heard the threats the restrained person has made towards you, you should ask them to come to court to testify on your behalf. The Court cannot review letters from individuals; they must come and testify in person.
Since the Court must conclude that the abuse will continue in order to grant the permanent protection order, it is important to mention any incidents of stalking behavior, violations of any Temporary Protection Order, or any other behavior by the restrained person that indicates that they will not stay away from you or that they will retaliate against you unless there is a court order in place.
Modificación o desestimación de órdenes de protección civil
Modificar o desestimar una orden de protección civil como parte protegida:
Si usted es la persona protegida, puede pedir al tribunal que modifique o anule una orden de protección en cualquier momento. Normalmente, el tribunal accederá a la petición de la parte protegida (aunque no está garantizado); sin embargo, si después de la orden de protección permanente, la persona restringida ha sido condenada o se ha declarado culpable de cualquier delito menor o grave contra la persona protegida, entonces la orden de protección no podrá ser modificada o desestimada por el tribunal.
Cualquier moción para modificar o desestimar la orden de protección debe ser notificada personalmente a la otra parte. La persona que solicita que se modifique o desestime la orden de protección tiene la carga de la prueba para demostrar al tribunal que la modificación es adecuada o que procede una desestimación porque la orden de protección ya no es necesaria.
Modificar o desestimar una orden de protección civil como parte restringida:
Si usted es la persona restringida, puede solicitar al tribunal que modifique o desestime la protección civil permanente, pero debe cumplir varios requisitos, entre ellos un período de espera. Debe esperar al menos 2 años desde que la PPO fue ordenada por el tribunal o al menos 2 años desde que su última moción para desestimar/modificar fue denegada. (Si la PPO se presentó antes del 1 de julio de 2013, debe esperar al menos 4 años).
No puede haber sido condenado ni haberse declarado culpable de ningún delito contra la persona protegida desde que se ordenó la orden de protección. El Tribunal también tendrá en cuenta si ha incumplido la orden de protección.
Como parte de su moción para modificar o desestimar la orden de protección, usted debe completar una verificación de antecedentes penales basada en huellas digitales tanto con la Oficina de Investigaciones de Colorado como con la Oficina Federal de Investigaciones. Las verificaciones de antecedentes deben estar fechadas dentro de los 90 días de su moción para modificar o desestimar la orden de protección.
Cualquier moción para modificar o desestimar la orden de protección debe notificarse personalmente a la otra parte.
La persona que solicita que se modifique o desestime la orden de protección tiene la carga de la prueba para demostrar al tribunal que la modificación es adecuada o que procede una desestimación porque la orden de protección ya no es necesaria.