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. El Monte Domestic Violence Attorney – Experienced & Aggressive Lawyer and Lawyers Fighting for You in El Monte, California
About El Monte
El Monte is a residential, industrial, and commercial city in Los Angeles County of Southern California, the United States. The city lies in the San Gabriel Valley east of the city of Los Angeles.
El Monte's slogan is "Welcome to Friendly El Monte," and historically is known as "The End of the Santa Fe Trail." As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 113,475, down from 115,965 at the 2000 census. As of 2010, El Monte is the 228th largest city in the United States, and is the 51st largest city in California.
El Monte was literally an oasis or island in the middle of the arid San Gabriel Valley. Situated between the San Gabriel and Rio Hondo Rivers, residents claimed that anything could be grown in the area. Between 1770 and 1830, Spanish soldiers and missionaries often stopped here for respite. They called the area, 'El Monte,' which in Spanish means 'meadow or marsh' or 'the wooded place. Most people assume the name refers to a mountain, but the word is an archaic Spanish translation of that era, there were no mountains in the valley. The explorers had found this oasis of rich, low altitude land, blanketed with thick growths of wispy willows, alders, and cattails, located between the two rivers. They also found wild grapevines and watercress. The "Island" is approximately 7 miles long and 4 miles wide. When the State Legislature organized California into more manageable designated townships in the 1850s, they called it the El Monte Township. In a short time the name returned to the original El Monte.
In earlier days, El Monte was a stopping place for the people going to the gold fields in the North, near Sacramento. The first settlers with their families were Nicholas Schmidt, Ira W. Thompson, G. and F. Cuddeback, J. Corbin and J. Sheldon. Settlement began in 1849, though Spanish missionaries and soldiers passed through the area as early as the 1770s. The Old Spanish Trail, originating in Santa Fe became a continuation of the well-knownSanta Fe Trail, that began in 1821, when the nation’s first major international commercial highway was established stretching from Kansas City, Missouri to Santa Fe. In the 1850s the village named Lexington by American settlers for a time (it soon returned to being called El Monte or Monte), was the crossroad between Los Angeles, San Bernardinoand San Pedro. In the early days, it had a reputation as a rough town where men often settled disputes with knives and guns in its gambling saloons. Defense against Indian raids and the crimes of bandit gangs like that of Juan Flores and Pancho Daniel led to the formation of a local militia company called theMonte Rangers in February 1854. After the Monte Rangers disbanded, justice for Los Angeles County, in the form of a lynching, was often provided by the local vigilantes called the "El Monte Boys".
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