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. Victorville Domestic Violence Attorney – Experienced & Aggressive Lawyer and Lawyers Fighting for You in Victorville, California
About Victorville
Victorville is a city located in the Victor Valley of southwestern San Bernardino County, California. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2010 census, the city had a population of 115,903.
In 1858, Aaron G. Lane came to the High Desert and created the hamlet of "Lane's Crossing", which for many years provided shelter and supplies for people making the journey across the desert from the east to San Bernardino. Lane's Crossing was on the Mojave River just north of where the river crosses Interstate 15. Captain Lane was a Mexican-American War veteran who had suffered from malaria during that war. Originally he migrated west to join the California gold rush, but he found out that he could make a better living selling supplies to the miners. He settled in Ione near Sutter's Mill in northern California during those years, but he migrated to San Bernardino in 1857. Although his health did not improve much there, he found that the dry desert air was comforting to him. He settled there in 1858, residing there for 25 years. He was a rancher and became involved in Mojave Valley politics, providing the first polling place in the high desert at his home. That first year, ten citizens cast their votes at Lane's residence, rather than making the long trip to San Bernardino. Census records show that Aaron Lane was not alone living on the crossing and there were ten people living in two residences on the river by 1860. Listed in Dwelling No. 703 were Aaron Lane, William R. Levick, and the Nicholson family, consisting of George and Frances, and their three children aged 9 to 13. Joseph and Mary Highmoor lived in Dwelling No. 704, with a seven-year-old female named Anna.
About 1895, the village was named "Victor" for the California Southern Railroad's General Manager Jacob Nash Victor. In 1901, the U.S. Post Office Department changed that name to Victorville to avoid confusion with the town of Victor, Colorado.
In 1926, the highway U.S. Route 66 was begun, and it passed through Victorville. Today, that former route is known as Seventh Street and continues across Interstate 15 and becomes Palmdale Road. It is the primary street through Old Town Victorville. In 1940, Herman J. Mankiewicz and John Houseman wrote the first two drafts of the script for the film Citizen Kane in Victorville, while residing at the Green Spot motel along Route 66. That film's producer and director, Orson Welles, had sent the two of them to write in semi-seclusion - due to Mickiewicz’s outrageous drinking propensities.
After decades of service to the Air Force, in 1992 the George Air Force Base was closed, and its land turned over to other uses. Part of it is now the Southern California Logistics Airport. The former Air Force base housing area is now vacant, and it forms a ghost town that is used for military training by troops from the U.S. Army's Fort Irwin Military Reservation. The Victorville Federal Penitentiary has been built on another part of the former air base.
The city of Victorville was officially incorporated by the State of California on September 21, 1962.
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