Criminal charges can affect the Protection From Abuse case in Pennsylvania in several ways. If a person has to seek a PFA either because of police involvement at the time of the alleged incident or because the person were to seek police involvement or were to pursue criminal charges at a later time, criminal charges can potentially be filed due to the allegations involved with the PFA.
If criminal charges are filed against the defendant, because the PFA court date would be scheduled by law within 10 days after a Temporary PFA is issued or a personal assault Temporary PFA, even if it's a simply a final hearing was issued at that time, the defendant because of those criminal charges, if he or she were to testify at a PFA trial, they would be criminally exposed in the sense that anything they say in the PFA case could be potentially used against them in a criminal case.
In most instances, unless a person waive their right to not have to go forward with the PFA case, the defendant that is, the PFA court would continue the PFA until the criminal case is resolved over and done with in other words, so that the defendant is no longer criminally exposed.
Having an experienced PFA attorney will help you best understand and navigate the PFA process. It requires a calculated approach in all instances, but especially if there's criminal charges involved and they should be involved from as early as possible in the case.
