Domestic Battery: PC 243(e)(1)
Domestic battery also concerns a willful or intentional act on an intimate partner except that the injury can be trivial, though harmful or offensive, and need not have caused any pain to the victim. For a battery to occur, it can be any unwanted contact such as pushing or slapping the individual and doing so with the purpose or intent of committing harm. A battery also occurs regardless if the contact was not directly on the victim. For example, smashing the victim’s car window while the person was inside, snatching a necklace off the intimate partner or kicking the victim’s cat in the person’s presence could be charged as domestic battery.
Domestic battery is a misdemeanor though you can face aggravated battery charges, which can be charged as a felony if the intimate partner suffered serious bodily injury, and face state prison time. In many cases, the court will require the offender to attend a batterer’s treatment program for at least one year as a condition of probation. A subsequent domestic battery conviction results in a mandatory minimum jail time of 48 hours.
Possible Defenses to a Domestic Violence Charge
There are numerous defenses available to anyone charged with any of the above charges, some of which are dependent on the crime for which you are being prosecuted.
- Self-defense. You can asset self-defense if you reasonably believed you or someone near you was in imminent danger of being harmed or unlawfully or offensively touched and that you needed to apply force to protect yourself or that other person. The force used must be only that required or necessary to defend yourself.
- Lack of injury. If no injury occurred, then certainly you cannot be prosecuted under PC 243.5, corporal injury to a spouse or cohabitant. You need not have produced a visible injury, though, to be charged with a battery offense or elder abuse.
- Lack of a sustained or reasonable fear for one’s safety or well-being. To be prosecuted for criminal threats, the victim must have had a reasonable fear of the threat and it must have lasted for more than a moment. Merely being startled or being told by the defendant that he or she may get you some day may not be enough to constitute a crime.
- False accusations. Many times, a jealous spouse or ex-dating partner or vengeful family member will fabricate a charge of assault or abuse. Often, a comprehensive medical examination will not contradict the accuser’s account of how an alleged injury occurred.
- Mistaken assumptions. In some cases, someone who is required to report suspected abuse or domestic violence will report it to authorities. A criminal defense attorney may have to launch a separate investigation to exonerate the defendant by showing that either someone else was responsible or that some other plausible explanation explains the injury.
- Violation of constitutional rights. Police must follow certain protocol that adheres to rights found in the federal and state constitutions regarding reasonable searches and seizures, extracting confessions and lawfully arresting someone.
Contact the Domestic Violence Attorney Group
A domestic violence accusation may be result of a mistake or a fabricated allegation from someone seeking retribution or vengeance against you. There are numerous cases where mitigating circumstances, unknown facts, misunderstandings or overzealous prosecutions result in unsubstantiated or excessive charges that our attorneys can examine and appropriately advise you. Promptly retaining an experienced domestic violence lawyer from the Domestic Violence Attorney Group can often mean the difference between getting your case dismissed, charges reduced, or having you plea to a different offense with lesser penalties. Cudahy Domestic Violence Attorney – Experienced & Aggressive Lawyer and Lawyers Fighting for You in Cudahy, California
About Cudahy
Cudahy is a city located in southeastern Los Angeles County, California. In terms of area, Cudahy is the second smallest city in Los Angeles County, after Hawaiian Gardens, but with one of the highest population densities of any incorporated city in the United States. It is part of the Gateway Cities region. Cudahy is populated predominantly by Latino immigrants and has a population of 23,805 as of the 2010 U.S. Census.
Cudahy is named for its founder, meat-packing baron Michael Cudahy, who purchased the original 2,777 acres (11.2 km2) of Rancho San Antonio in 1908 to resell as 1-acre (4,000 m2) lots. These "Cudahy lots" were notable for their dimensions—in most cases, 50 to 100 feet (15 to 30 m) in width and 600 to 800 feet (183 to 244 m) in depth, a length equivalent to a city block or more in most American towns. Such parcels, often referred to as "railroad lots", were intended to allow the new town's residents to keep a large vegetable garden, a grove of fruit trees (usually citrus), and a chicken coop or horse stable. This arrangement, popular in the towns along the lower Los Angeles and San Gabriel rivers, proved particularly attractive to the Southerners and Midwesterners who were leaving their struggling farms in droves in the 1910s and 1920s to start new lives in Southern California. Sam Quinones of the Los Angeles Times said that the large, narrow parcels of land gave Cudahy Acres a "rural feel in an increasingly urban swath." As late as the 1950s, some Cudahy residents were still riding into the city's downtown areas on horseback. After World War II the city was a White American blue collar town with steel and automobile plants in the area.
By the late 1970s, the factories closed down and the white American residents of Cudahy left for jobs and housing in the San Gabriel and San Fernando Valleys. Stucco apartment complexes were built on former tracts of land. The population density increased; in 2007 the city was the second-densest in California, after Maywood.
The city was subjected to a major political corruption incident when the former mayor and the one-time city manager were indicted on bribery and extortion charges for supporting the opening of a medical marijuana dispensary. As a result of these charges, on July 12, 2012, ex-mayor David Silva, 61, and former City Manager Angel Perales, 43, each pled guilty to one count of bribery and extortion; according to plea agreements they each face up to 30 years in prison.
more ...$2390 Domestic Violence Attorney Promotion. Payment Plans Available.
Toll Free 1(888) 603-4069
Available 7 Days a Week 7am to 9pm
