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. Glendora Domestic Violence Attorney – Experienced & Aggressive Lawyer and Lawyers Fighting for You in Glendora, California
About Glendora
Glendora is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, 23 miles (37 km) east of downtown Los Angeles. As of the 2010 census, the population of Glendora was 50,073.
Glendora is an upscale city with a diverse housing stock and a consistently high-ranking school district. Glendora lies within the San Gabriel Valley, area code 626. A small portion of southeast Glendora is in the area code 909, which is the area code for areas in eastern Los Angeles County, such as Claremont, and for western San Bernardino County. The city to Glendora's west is Azusa while San Dimas lies to Glendora's east. Glendora has its own police force, and the town's crime rate is very low.
Residences in Glendora range from early 20th-century bungalows, to modest ranch style homes, to multi-story configurations, to grand mansions. Glendora's most expensive neighborhoods contain many large, secluded, estate homes with sweeping views across the San Gabriel Valley to Downtown Los Angeles. These neighborhoods include Morgan Ranch, Gordon Highlands, Bluebird Hill, Silent Ranch, Oakhart Estates, and Easley Canyon Estates. The Glendora Country Club is a members-only country club with an 18-hole golf course, where membership is by invitation only, and has been played by many professional golfers.
Ygnacio Palomares received the 22,000-acre (89 km2) land grant Rancho San Jose from Governor Juan Bautista Alvarado in 1837. The land included the present day cities of Pomona, Claremont, La Verne, San Dimas, and Glendora.
Located at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains, modern Glendora was founded on April 1, 1887 by George D. Whitcomb who moved to California from Illinois in the early 1880s. Whitcomb was the founder of the Whitcomb Locomotive Works in Chicago and Rochelle, Illinois. He devised the name Glendora by combining the name of his wife, Leadora Bennett Whitcomb, with the location of his home in a glen of the San Gabriel Mountains. Prior to its 1911 incorporation, Glendora's administrator officially occupied the office of President of Glendora.
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