All forms of violence are gravely punished in California, especially those that happen within homes or in the confines of intimate relationships. If a jury trial finds you guilty of domestic battery, you could spend a lengthy time behind bars, pay a hefty court fine, and suffer other life-changing consequences, like job loss and challenges finding suitable employment. Since domestic battery is widespread, the police are doing their best to make arrests before more people suffer harm at the hands of domestic abusers.
If you face domestic battery charges in Monterey for acting in self-defense, due to an accidental act, or because someone is falsely accusing you, you can fight your charges to avoid the severe consequences of a conviction. Our team at Monterey Criminal Attorney can mount a solid defense against your charges to compel the judge to drop or reduce them. We will also defend your rights and offer the support and advice you need to navigate all court processes successfully.
The Definition of Domestic Battery
Domestic battery is a severe crime under the general bracket of someric violence. It occurs when you commit a battery offense against someone you have or have a close relationship with. The legal meaning of this offense is under PC 243(e)(1). The prosecutor will file charges against you under this statute if evidence shows that you willfully and unlawfully touched another person or inflicted force or violence against the person. You have or had a close relationship with that person. The charges are grave because prosecutors charge domestic battery as a misdemeanor or felony. The exact charge you receive will depend on the details of your case and your criminal history.
But first, the prosecutor must demonstrate that the alleged victim of your crime is someone you have or have a close relationship with. The person can belong to any of the following categories:
- A previous or current spouse.
- A previous or current cohabitant.
- A previous or current fiancee(e).
- A person you have seriously dated before.
- The other parent of your child.
Domestic battery does not necessarily mean that the person sustained a severe physical injury. The prosecutor will still bring charges against you even if the person did not sustain a bodily injury. All they need to demonstrate is that you used force or violence against the person.
Domestic battery is legally defined by elaborate elements that the district attorney must prove beyond a reasonable doubt for the court to find you guilty. These elements are as follows:
- You willfully and unlawfully touched another person.
- You touched the person harmfully or offensively.
- The person with whom you have or had a close relationship.
A willful touch means that you touched the other person intentionally or willingly and not by accident. However, this does not necessarily mean you intended to harm the person or violate any law.
Example: After receiving the bad news, Kim throws the cup of coffee at her hand, intending to smash it on the wall. Unfortunately, she misses the wall and hits her husband right in the face, causing him to suffer a severe burn.
In this case, although Kim willfully threw the cup of coffee, she did not intend to harm her husband. However, her husband suffers a severe burn on his face through her actions. Thus, Kim could be charged with domestic battery. This is because she inflicted force or violence against her husband.
In addition to being willful, the touch must be done offensively or harmfully. A joyous act that results in another person being hurt does not count as it is not harmful or offensive. The prosecutor must demonstrate that your actions were offensive or dangerous at the time. Thus, if you acted angrily, the court can pass a guilty verdict for domestic battery.
Note: The requirements for a domestic violence conviction differ from those of other battery-related convictions as far as the resulting physical harm is concerned. According to PC 243(e)1, the prosecutor does not need to demonstrate that your actions caused the other person to suffer actual harm to obtain a guilty verdict. This means that the court can still convict even if your victim was not harmed, provided the prosecutor successfully demonstrates all the other elements of the offense.
Besides, a dangerous or offensive touch does not necessarily cause injury or pain. What matters is that your actions were disrespectful or angry. For example, pushing your husband, wife, or ex-partner angrily can result in domestic battery charges even if they do not fall or otherwise suffer harm.
Additionally, the laws do not specify the body part that you should not touch in a domestic battery situation. This means you can face grave charges for touching any part of the victim’s body in an offensive or harmful manner.
Example: A married couple gets into a heated fight in a club when the wife angrily pushes a chair as she storms out of the club. The chair falls on the husband’s feet, but not with enough force to cause a severe injury. The wife can face domestic battery charges through such actions, even though she did not directly inflict force or violence on her husband's body.
Lastly, remember that domestic battery charges only apply in cases where the alleged victim is someone the defendant has or had a close relationship with. The prosecutor will file battery charges under a different statute if no such relationship exists.
Although proving an intimate or close relationship sounds straightforward, it can sometimes be challenging. For example, you can argue that you were not in a close relationship with someone you cohabited with to compel the judge to reduce your charges. You could also fight your relationship since the alleged victim was cohabiting with another person at the time they were cohabiting with you. However, the law considers the type of relationship you have with the person to determine whether or not they are your intimate partner. Additionally, a person can legally cohabit with one or more people simultaneously. Thus, these excuses will not exclude you from persecution for domestic battery.
Domestic Violence Vs.Domestic Battery
When it pertains to laws protecting people in intimate relationships, domestic violence is the general offense. It refers to any form of violence you can commit against a person you have or had a close relationship with. It does not specify the violence and so can refer to battery, assault, or inflicting corporal injury on a spouse. However, domestic battery is a specific offense under PC 243(e)1. Since it is a battery-related offense, the prosecutor must first demonstrate that you committed battery and then prove that the victim was someone you had or have a close relationship with.
These two offenses are sometimes used interchangeably, although they have different legal meanings. Domestic violence laws are designed to protect people in intimate relationships against abuse or violence. Most of these laws are wobbler offenses, meaning the prosecutor can charge them as misdemeanors or felonies. However, domestic battery is generally a misdemeanor offense that does not require a victim to sustain a physical injury. In a domestic violence situation, the prosecutor must determine the degree of injury to decide how to prosecute a case.
Possible Penalties for Domestic Battery
Domestic battery is generally a misdemeanor offense, punishable by the following penalties:
- Misdemeanor probation, or
- A one-year jail sentence.
- A court fine of up to $2000.
In most cases, judges use misdemeanor probation instead of jail sentences to allow convicts to serve their time out of incarceration. However, this is often given to low-level offenders, especially non-violent offenders. You must also be a low-risk offender willing to change your life to avoid reoffending. The judge will likely send you to probation instead of jail if they intend to achieve the following:
- To protect the public against similar conduct.
- To rehabilitate you.
- To restore you to your community and family.
However, you must demonstrate remorse for your actions and be willing to make necessary changes to avoid committing the same or a similar offense.
Probation comes with strict conditions for you to abide by. The judge will set these conditions during sentencing based on the details of your case and the outcome the judge intends to achieve through probation. For example, you will be warned against facing arrests or criminal charges while on probation. The judge could also order you to participate in community service for particular hours and to undergo treatment or rehabilitation for an underlying problem. You could be required to pay restitution to the victim to enable them to seek medical treatment and counseling. Additionally, the judge could order you to make a particular payment to a program like the battered woman’s shelter.
If you meet all your probation conditions, you will be free to live as you please after the probation. Remember that misdemeanor probation can last up to three years. However, if you violate your probation, the judge can revoke it and send you to jail for the required period.
If you commit domestic battery two or more times within a particular period, your penalties will likely increase. The judge could order you to serve part of your sentence in jail and the remaining sentence on probation.
Other Consequences
Although domestic battery is a misdemeanor, it carries life-changing consequences. You should be careful about it. For example, a conviction will result in a damaging criminal record that could create difficulties in your life, especially when looking for a job or a place to rent. People who conduct background checks on others, like employers and landlords, will likely decide based on what they find in your criminal history.
A conviction for domestic battery could also impact your immigration status in the long run. Remember that domestic battery falls under the general umbrella of domestic violence, which is a deportable crime. You could face grave immigration consequences under specific circumstances after your conviction.
A conviction for domestic battery will also affect your gun rights. The judge will impose a 10-year ban on possessing or owning a firearm if the jury delivers a guilty verdict, according to PC 29805. According to this statute, judges can ban weapons for specific misdemeanors, and domestic battery falls under the category of those misdemeanors. This means that the police will confiscate any gun in your possession during your arrest. You must also surrender or sell your weapons after the conviction. Once you serve your sentence, you must apply to reinstate your gun rights through a long and tedious process.
Fighting a Domestic Battery Charge
A domestic battery charge can have severe consequences, mainly if it results in a conviction. In addition to serving time behind bars or years on misdemeanor probation, you will pay a hefty court fine. Other life-altering consequences apply and can continue impacting your life long after the conviction. For example, you could lose your job and face difficulties finding another one even after serving your time.
However, you can fight your charges during the trial to avoid a conviction and its consequences. You can do this with the assistance of a qualified criminal attorney. Fortunately, criminal attorneys can use various legal defense strategies to fight for favorable outcomes in criminal cases. Here are some of the best strategies your lawyer could use for a favorable outcome:
You Were Defending Yourself or Another Person
Self-defense is commonly used in violence-related offenses to compel a judge to reduce or dismiss a case. Your attorney can use this defense to obtain a favorable outcome in your case. They can rogue that, although you used violence or force against an intimate partner, you did so to protect yourself or someone else. If this is true, the court will dismiss your charges.
However, your attorney must demonstrate that you faced imminent danger. They must also prove that you needed to use reasonable force or violence to protect yourself and that you did not use more force than necessary against the alleged victim. The force you use in self-defense must match with the danger you face. If you use more force than required, you can still face charges and a possible conviction for domestic battery. However, if the court agrees that the force you sued was reasonable and necessary at the time, the judge will dismiss your charges.
Your Actions Were Not Willful
A domestic battery charge requires you to have acted willfully and not accidentally. You commit the offense when you willfully touch an intimate partner rudely or offensively. If the touch was not willful, the court can dismiss your charge. However, you must demonstrate that your actions were not intentional in order to obtain a favorable outcome. A skilled attorney can help you explain how you accidentally inflicted force or violence on your partner.
You can use this defense if you throw something that accidentally hits your partner. If your actions were not in anger, offensive, or rude, and you did not aim the object at your partner, the court can dismiss your charge.
First, the prosecutor could face challenges demonstrating that your actions were willful. Remember that in criminal cases, the prosecutor bears the burden of proof. The court cannot deliver a guilty verdict if they cannot prove that you acted willfully and do so beyond a reasonable doubt. All your attorney needs is to create reasonable doubt in the prosecutor’s case to obtain a favorable outcome.
You Are Falsely Accused
False accusations are widespread in domestic violence cases. Remember that these matters happen within the confines of an intimate relationship and sometimes behind closed doors. A dissatisfied or angry ex-partner or current partner can accuse you of domestic battery out of jealousy or to get even with you for something you did or failed to do. Although this is common, you must counter the prosecutor’s case with irrefutable evidence for the judge to drop your charges.
A skilled attorney can bring in witnesses to testify in your favor. They can also use electronic communication between you and the alleged victim to enable the court to understand your relationship. Your attorney can also use your alibi to demonstrate your lack of involvement in the crime. For example, if you were not anywhere close to the victim when the alleged offense occurred, or someone else was with you, your attorney can prove you did not commit domestic battery.
Remember that false accusations in domestic battery cases are common because the prosecutor does not need a physical injury to prove that the offense occurred. However, a skilled attorney will do everything possible to ensure you do not pay for a crime you did not commit.
California Domestic Battery and Related Charges
Domestic battery is closely related to some offenses under the law, which prosecutors consider when determining the appropriate charge to file against you. The most common of these offenses are:
Corporate Injury on an Intimate Partner
Inflicting corporate injury on an intimate partner is prohibited under PC 273.5. The statute also falls under the general umbrella of domestic violence statutes. You violate this law when you willfully inflict violence or force on an intimate partner, causing them to suffer a traumatic injury.
PC 273.5 and PC 243(e)1 are very similar, except in the resulting injury, which is a critical element in PC 273.5 cases. In a domestic violence situation, the prosecutor does not need proof of injury to prove your case beyond a reasonable doubt. However, this is a critical requirement when prosecuting cases under C 273.5.
Another difference is that PC 273.5 is a wobbler offense, meaning that the prosecutor can charge it as a misdemeanor or felony, depending on the details of your case and your criminal history. Thus, PC 273.5 is a graver offense than domestic battery.
Aggravated Battery
Aggravated battery is prosecuted under PC 243(d). It is also a battery-related offense, like domestic battery, and involves the infliction of violence or force against another person.
However, the law against aggravated battery protects everyone, not a specific group, like a domestic battery. The aggravated battery also has aggravating circumstances that could result in more severe penalties than the domestic battery. Aggravated circumstances worsen your case, causing the judge to jive a heftier penalty than they would in a simple or ordinary case.
The prosecutor must demonstrate these aggravating circumstances if you face aggravated battery charges. For example, they must prove that your actions caused the alleged victim to suffer actual harm.
Aggravated battery is also a wobbler offense, meaning the prosecutor can charge it as a felony or misdemeanor. A felony charge can result in a prison sentence and a hefty court fine.
Elder Abuse
PC 368 is the law that protects individuals aged 65 or older against any form of abuse, whether physical, emotional, social, mental, or financial. You can face charges for elder abuse if you willfully and negligently caused an older person to suffer unjustifiable mental or emotional pain. An elder abuse charge is possible in a domestic violence situation if the facts of your case satisfy all the elements of this crime.
Elder abuse is a graver offense than domestic battery as it concerns protected and vulnerable persons. Since it is also a wobbler, the prosecutor can file misdemeanor or felony charges against you. A felony charge can result in a four-year prison sentence and a fine of up to $6000. The judge can enhance your penalties if the victim suffers a significant physical injury or dies due to your actions.
Find Reliable Criminal Defense Services Near Me
If you face domestic battery charges in Monterey, it could mean the end of the world to you if you do not understand the gravity of your charges and the possible outcome. However, a reliable criminal defense attorney can help you with that. In addition to explaining the legal meaning of your charges, we can define your rights and help you develop a fighting strategy at Monterey Criminal Attorney. We will also make it easy for you to navigate the complex legal processes successfully.
We have experience handling all domestic violence cases and can give your case our best efforts for a favorable outcome. Call us at 831-574-1791 for more information.
