Your lawyer, or an investigator working for your lawyer, can ask. Whether an interview actually happens is up to the alleged victim, who has a constitutional right to refuse it or to agree only on reasonable conditions they set. If you are under a no-contact order, the request has to come from your lawyer’s side, never from you.

Why the request has to go through your lawyer, not you

A no-contact protective order bars you from contacting the protected person “directly or indirectly, by any means,” but the same term carves out contact through an attorney. Penal Code section 136.2(a)(1)(D) lets a court order that you have no communication whatsoever with a protected witness or victim except through an attorney, under reasonable restrictions the court may impose. The standard criminal protective order form says it directly: contact through an attorney under reasonable restrictions set by the court does not violate this order. That exception is why a request made through your lawyer does not violate the order, and any limits the court has placed on attorney contact still apply. It does not cover you personally reaching out, even to ask permission for an interview, and even if you frame it as a legal question.

The alleged victim can lawfully refuse

A properly channeled request does not mean the alleged victim has to sit for an interview. Under Marsy’s Law, crime victims hold a personal right “to refuse an interview, deposition, or discovery request by the defendant, the defendant’s attorney, or any other person acting on behalf of the defendant,” and to set reasonable conditions on any interview they agree to (Cal. Const., art. I, section 28(b)(5)). The same section separately gives victims the right to prevent disclosure, to you, your attorney, or anyone acting for you, of confidential information or records that could be used to locate or harass the victim or the victim’s family (section 28(b)(4)). Put together, the alleged victim decides whether an interview happens and on what terms, and information that could be used to find them is protected from disclosure to the defense.

In a domestic violence case, the victim can also bring support

Where the case involves domestic violence or abuse as California law defines it, Penal Code section 679.05(a) gives the victim the right to have a domestic violence advocate and a support person of the victim’s choosing present at any interview by law enforcement, prosecutors, or defense attorneys. Before their first interview, law enforcement or the prosecutor must tell the victim about this right, including that it covers any interview by the defense attorney or by investigators or agents the defense attorney employs (section 679.05(b)). The statute lets law enforcement or a prosecutor exclude a support person whose presence would be detrimental to their own interview; that exclusion does not extend to defense interviews. If an interview does happen, expect an advocate or support person to be there if the victim wants one.

What this means for you

  • Do not contact the alleged victim yourself to ask for an interview, to ask why they will not agree to one, or to discuss the case in any way. That is not covered by the attorney exception and risks a new protective order violation or contempt charge on top of the original case.
  • Do not ask a friend or relative to pass along a request, or to tell the alleged victim you are upset about a refusal. The no-contact term also covers contact made through someone else, and pressuring a victim or witness can also create separate exposure for witness dissuasion.
  • Do not try to find out where the alleged victim lives or is staying. The criminal protective order form includes an order that the defendant take no action to obtain protected persons’ addresses or locations, unless the court finds good cause not to make that order (CR-160, item 13).
  • Let your lawyer, or an investigator working for your lawyer, make the request. How and when to ask is your lawyer’s call.
  • A refusal is the alleged victim’s right, and it does not change what your order allows you to do.

Whether an interview is worth pursuing, and how to request one without creating new legal exposure, depends on your order’s wording and where your case stands. To talk through your protective order and your options, call the Law Offices of David S. Chesley at (800) 755-5174.