Domestic Violence or domestic assault charges are different from simple assault charges in Tennessee. In fact ,The General Sessions Courts in Nashville even have specialized courts established to handle these sorts of cases.Judge Gale Robinson and Judge Gloria Dumas are the two judges that are assigned to hear these cases at the General Sessions Court level.

I thought it might be helpful to set forth the definition of Domestic assault.The definition can be found at Tennessee Code annotated Section 39-13-111.

 


A " domestic abuse victim" means any person who falls within the following categories:

 

(1) Adults or minors who are current or former spouses;

(2) Adults or minors who live together or who have lived together;

(3) Adults or minors who are dating or who have dated or who have or had a sexual relationship, but does not include fraternization between two (2) individuals in a business or social context;

(4) Adults or minors related by blood or adoption;

(5) Adults or minors who are related or were formerly related by marriage; or

(6) Adult or minor children of a person in a relationship that is described in subdivisions (a)(1)-(5).

(b) A person commits domestic assault who commits an assault as defined in § 39-13-101 against a domestic abuse victim.

(c)(1) Domestic assault is punishable the same as assault in § 39-13-101.

One consequence of a domestic violence conviction is the loss of owning a firearm.See T.C.A. 39-19-111 (3)

(3) A person convicted of a violation of this section shall be required to terminate, upon conviction, possession of all firearms that the person possesses as required by § 36-3-625.