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. Swall Meadows Domestic Violence Attorney – Experienced & Aggressive Lawyer and Lawyers Fighting for You in Swall Meadows, California
About Swall Meadows
Swall Meadows is a census-designated place in southern Mono County, California. The community is residential, including second homes and a volunteer fire department, but no commercial development. Geographically, it sits on the Sherwin Grade, at an elevation range of approximately 6,000 to 7,000 feet (1,800 to 2,100 m) in a pinon-juniper/subalpine zone habitat, with views along the Sierra Crest, of Mt. Tom, and across Owens Valley to the White Mountains (image, below). It is accessed from "old 395", or Lower Rock Creek Rd. Swall Meadows is located approximately 20 miles (32 km) north of Bishop and 25 miles (40 km) south of Mammoth Lakes (by highway distance). It is also well known in the area as an important deer migration route for the Round Valley Mule Deer population, which cherish the grazing in the meadow and apple falls from the old orchard trees. The ZIP Code is 93514. The community is inside area code 760. The population was 220 as of the 2010 census.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP covers an area of 4.5 square miles (11.6 km²), all of it land. In addition to the predominant pinyon-juniper-sagebrush habitat, there is a stream and the eponymous meadow with wetter-habitat vegetation such as Jeffrey pines, willows, stream and bog orchids, and the remnant trees of the old commercial apple orchard. In 2011 the Eastern Sierra Land Trust secured a conservation easement to protect 104 acres of the Swall Meadows meadow area (location of the historic homesite), for the continued benefit of the migrating mule deer. A number of other conservation easements have been completed in Swall Meadows since the organization was founded in 2001. Between Paradise and Swall Meadows the old wagon road can be seen (image, left) that climbed about 3000 ft up the Sherwin Grade from Owens Valley toward Crowley Lake.
The 2010 United States Census reported that Swall Meadows had a population of 220. The population density was 49.3 people per square mile (19.0/km²). The racial makeup of Swall Meadows was 201 (91.4%) White, 0 (0.0%) African American, 3 (1.4%) Native American, 5 (2.3%) Asian, 0 (0.0%) Pacific Islander, 2 (0.9%) from other races, and 9 (4.1%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6 persons (2.7%).
In the state legislature Swall Meadows is located in the 1st Senate District, represented by Republican Ted Gaines, and in the 25th Assembly District, represented by Republican Kristin Olsen. Federally, Swall Meadows is located in California's 25th congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of R +7 and is represented by Republican Buck McKeon.
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