Special rules apply when dealing with domestic violence crimes in California. Domestic violence involves various criminal activities like stalking, abandoning, threatening, and inflicting physical harm on another person. There are several laws related to domestic violence, depending on the type of criminal activity involved.

A conviction for domestic violence offense can lead to substantial penalties, including lengthy prison sentences and hefty fines. If you are charged with a domestic violence offense in California, CA, you need to consult a lawyer experienced in handling these cases. At California Criminal Lawyer Group, we thoroughly assess your case and build solid defense strategies to protect your rights, and advise you on issues related to your arrest/ charges.  

How California Laws Define Domestic Violence

Under California Penal Code 13700, domestic violence is any form of abuse performed on an intimate partner. Partners commit domestic abuse when they recklessly use force, physically force themselves, and threaten their intimate partners.

The term "intimate partner" involves several people. This include:

  • A former or current spouse
  • A former or current registered domestic partner 
  • A former or current cohabitant
  • A former or current fiancé or fiancée
  • A person whom you've had a child with
  • Someone whom you're accused of or are seriously dating now or in the past

California Laws on Domestic Violence

As stated above, domestic violence in California is defined under several statutes. These statutes cover different domestic violence aspects, like the nature of the violence and the target victim(s). Below is a detailed view of domestic violence laws in California.

California Penal Code 243(e)(1), Domestic Battery

Penal Code 243(e)(1) is a California statute that punishes domestic battery. Prosecutors must prove certain aspects, referred to as "elements of the crime," while prosecuting someone with domestic battery. This include:

  • The willful touching of another person in an offensive or harmful manner
  • The victim is the defendant's intimate partner
  • The defendant's actions not being acts of self-defense

While the prosecution is defined as "touching someone else in a harmful or offensive way," it does not necessarily mean that the alleged infliction of the action necessarily hurt the alleged victim or caused any physical injuries to the victim. Therefore, the slightest touch or doing something rudely or angrily counts as a form of offensive or harmful touch.

You can also be guilty of domestic violence if you touched something related to an intimate partner. For instance, throwing an object at your partner or pushing another person who, in turn, touches your partner makes you liable for domestic battery charges.

Violation of Penal Code 243(e)(1) is a misdemeanor. Individuals convicted under this statute are punishable by custody in county jail for a maximum of a year and a maximum fine of $2,000. The judge might also award you with a misdemeanor or summary probation after completing a batterer's intervention program or another program to be granted probation. The judge can also issue a domestic violence restraining order or protective order ordering you not to threaten, harass, or harm the alleged victim.

California Penal Code 273.5, Corporal Injury to an Inhabitant and Spouse

Under California Penal Code 273.5, it’s illegal to injure a cohabitant, spouse, or fellow parent when commissioning an act of domestic violence. Other names to this statute include:

  • Corporal injury on an intimate partner
  • Willful infliction of bodily injury
  • Intentional infliction of physical harm
  • Domestic abuse
  • Spousal abuse
  • Domestic violence

Prosecutors should prove that the defendants intentionally and unlawfully inflicted physical injury on their current and former spouse or cohabitant. They should also prove that the injury resulted in a traumatic condition and the action was not in self-defense.

Some examples of corporal injury include squeezing your ex-wife's hand enough to cause and leaving bruises and pushing your boyfriend into the glass cabinet, which cuts all over his body. 

Violation of this statute is a wobbler. A misdemeanor conviction can lead to a maximum of one year of custody in county jail and a maximum fine of $6,000. A felony conviction can lead to 2,3 or 4 years of imprisonment and a maximum fine of $6,000.

There is a separate penalty for someone convicted under Penal Code 273.5 within seven years of a conviction for corporal injury on a spouse, assault with a caustic chemical, an assault that causes serious injury, sexual battery, and assault with a deadly weapon or deadly gun. The potential penalty includes:

  • A maximum of one year of custody in county jail
  • 2,4 or 5 years in state prison
  • A maximum fine of $10,000

This punishment also applies to individuals convicted within seven years for a battery on a spouse crime.  

Apart from the potential jail, prison, and fines sentences, you can be subjected to domestic violence restraining orders, loss of your gun rights, and possible loss of your professional license. Non-citizens are at risk of severe immigration consequences like deportation and being marked as inadmissible in the United States.

California Penal Code 273 (d), Child Abuse

California Penal Code 273 (d) is the statute that outlines crimes of child abuse in California. It's also referred to as corporal injury on a minor. It makes it illegal to harm a child or impose cruel punishment. Instances of child abuse include the following:

  • Slapping your son to the point of leaving a mark on him
  • Hitting a child with a belt harder than reasonable manner to discipline him or her
  • Punching your teenage boy for staying out too late

Other acts considered abusive in California include choking, kicking, pushing, burning, throwing a child or an object to the child. Any action that injures a minor and can cause a traumatic condition or is inhuman or cruel is defined as acts of child abuse.  

Please note that spanking is not necessarily an act of child abuse if done for a disciplinary purpose and is not excessive. However, with the constant changes in California laws, a jury might decide that spanking, whether done using bare hands or an object, is unreasonable, even when you think that it's not.  

Violation of Penal Code 273(d) is a wobbler offense. Individuals convicted of a misdemeanor can face a maximum fine of $6,000, a maximum of one year of custody in county jail, and summary probation. Felony convictions can lead to a jail sentence of 2,4 or 6 years and a maximum fine of $6,000.

Please note, the judge might enhance the jail sentence by four years if you have prior child convictions unless you've completed your prison term for your prior conviction within ten years or haven't served time for any felony offense for the past ten years.  

You should also note that a child abuse conviction can count as a strike under California's three-strikes law if the minor suffered significant bodily injury due to the abuse. A strike on your record means that you'll be receiving a double sentence for any felony conviction that follows. Having three strikes on your records means that you will serve a mandatory state prison sentence for 25 years to life.

California Penal Code 273 (a), Child Endangerment

Everything to do with child endangerment in California is defined under Penal Code 273 (a). Under this statute, child endangerment is the willful infliction of unjustifiable pain or suffering on a child. It also involves willfully causing or permitting a child to suffer unjustifiable pain or mental anguish, causing injury to the child's health, and allowing the child to be in a situation where his or her health is endangered.  

Some of the typical instances of child endangerment include:

  • Leaving a dangerous weapon like a loaded firearm and knife at a place where the child can reach it easily
  • Tattooing a minor
  • Failure to seek medication for a very sick child
  • Leaving your child with a babysitter with a history of abusive behavior

The penalties for child endangerment depend on whether you caused death or significant bodily injuries to the child. Misdemeanor charges are punishable by a maximum of six months in county jail and a maximum fine of $10,000. Felony charges are punishable by 2,4, or 6 years of imprisonment and a maximum fine of $10,000.

The judge could enhance your sentence by 3 to 6 years if you inflicted significant bodily injuries on the minor and four years if the child dies due to your criminal negligence. Under some circumstances, the judge might decide to convict you under serious charges like voluntary manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, and second-degree murder if a child dies due to negligence.  

California Penal Code 270, Child Neglect 

In California, everything to do with child neglect or failure to provide care to a child is defined under Penal Code 270. Under this statute, parents commit this crime by willfully failing to provide a child's necessities without any legal excuse. These necessities include shelter, food, medicine, and clothing.

Instances of child neglect include:

  • Failure to take a child to the doctor when he's ill
  • Failure to give your daughter warm clothes during winter
  • Failure to feed an 8-year-old boy despite having the means to do so

Penal Code 270 defines the term "parent" broadly. It includes legal parents, adoptive parents, foster parents, and a husband living with a woman who gives birth to a child. However, it does not include anyone without any parental obligation or rights related to the child through a court declaration.

Most violations of Penal Code 270 are misdemeanors. The offense is punishable by custody in jail for a maximum of one year and a maximum fine of $2,000.

It’s rare to have a violation of Penal Code 270 punished as a felony. Felony charges usually arise when a parent fails to meet his parental obligation, even when the court has decided that he or she is the child's parent. For instance, if a judge rules in a suit that a particular man is the child's father and the father refuses to prove the child's necessities, this becomes a felony. A felony conviction is punishable by one year plus a day in state prison, a maximum fine of $2,000, or a maximum of one year in county jail.

California Penal Code 368, Elder Abuse

Penal Code 368 is the statute that defines everything to do with elder abuse in California. Under this statute, you can either commit a misdemeanor or felony elder abuse depending on your crime's circumstances. You will face misdemeanor elder abuse if you willfully and negligently subject an older person to unjustifiable mental suffering or physical pain and could have endangered his life or health.

Felony charges occur when you willfully and negligently subject an older adult to unjustifiable mental suffering or physical pain and would likely cause death or significant bodily injury.

Under this statute, elder abuse could mean any of the following:

  • Emotional abuse
  • Physical abuse 
  • Neglect 
  • Financial exploitation

When charged as a misdemeanor, the potential punishment includes a maximum fine of $6,000, custody in county jail for a maximum of one year, and restitution to the victim. Felony elder abuse attracts imprisonment in state prison for a maximum of four years, a maximum fine of $10,000, and reimbursement of the victim.

Further, if the victim suffers significant bodily injury, you can have an additional seven years of imprisonment. Elder abuse in California may have adverse immigration consequences based on the nature of your case. Negative immigration consequences include deportation and being marked as inadmissible in the United States.  

California Penal Code 422, Criminal Threats

Criminal threats can be considered domestic violence if it's made on an intimate partner. Penal Code 422 defines a criminal threat as making specific and unequivocal threats on someone, which in turn places him in a state of reasonably sustained fear for his safety or that of his immediate family. The threat can be made verbally, through an electronic transmitter device, or in writing.

The court can charge you with a criminal threat whether you can execute the threat or when you didn't intend to execute the threat. For instance, texting your ex that you're going to set her apartment on fire is a criminal threat.  

Violation of California Penal Code 422 is a wobbler. You can face a maximum of one year in county jail upon a misdemeanor conviction. For a felony conviction, you can face a maximum of four years in state prison, and the court can increase the sentence to one year if you used a dangerous or deadly weapon in your threat. Further, a criminal threat is a "strike" under the California three-strike laws. When the strike is placed on you, you should serve at least 85% of your sentence to be eligible for your release.  

California Penal Code 649.9, Stalking

California Penal Code 649.5 defines stalking as willfully and maliciously harassing another person by making a credible threat to a person, placing that person in reasonable fear. However, you're innocent of stalking if you engage in constitutionally protected activities like exercising free speech, legal protesting, or participate in an assembly.

You can either face criminal penalties or civil penalties for violating Penal Code 649.9. criminal penalties are wobbler with a maximum of one year in county jail, a maximum fine of $1,000, and summary probation for a misdemeanor conviction. Felony charges are punishable by formal probation, a maximum of five years in state prison, and a maximum fine of $1,000.

Felony charges occur when you violate a court-issued protective order, and you have been previously convicted of stalking.

California Penal Code 601: Aggravated trespass

Penal Code 601 defines aggravated trespass as threatening to injure someone and then entering that person's workplace or home without permission. Aggravated trespass becomes a crime of domestic violence if it's done on an intimate partner.

Please note, aggravated trespass is actualized if the defendant enters the target person's workplace or home within thirty days of the threat and carries an act to locate the threatened person within his workplace or home.  

In the context of domestic violence, aggravated trespass usually occurs to people who threaten their exes and try to locate them at their workplaces or home to actualize the threat. The kind of threat made to the other person must be credible, meaning that it must cause reasonable fear on the target person, and it appears that the defendant would be able to carry it out. It can be made orally, electronically, or in writing. It also implies a pattern or combination of conduct or statement.

Aggravated trespass is a wobbler offense. Misdemeanor charges are punishable by a maximum of one year in county jail, a maximum fine of $2,000, and summary probation. Felony convictions are punishable by a maximum of three years in county jail, formal probation, or a maximum fine of $10,000.  

Aggravated trespass might also negatively impact immigration consequences like being deported or marked inadmissible into the United States.  

California Penal Code 602, Trespass

Penal Code 602 defines trespass as entering another person's property to damage the property, interfere or obstruct the business activities conducted there, occupy the property, or refuse to leave a private property even when you are asked to do so.

You can face trespass charges as an act of domestic violence when you enter your ex's property and refuse to leave, even when asked to do so. Most trespass cases are charged as misdemeanors. However, you can be charged with a felony or infraction, although in minimal circumstances. Penalties for misdemeanors include a maximum county jail sentence of six months and a maximum fine of $10,000.

Punishment for individuals convicted of trespass as an infraction includes $75 for the first offense and $250 for a second-time offense. When charged with trespass as a felony, you may face up to three years in county jail or felony probation as an alternative to your criminal sentence. 

Revenge Porn, California Penal Code 647(j)(4)

Penal Code 647(j)(4) defines revenge porn as sending or distributing intimate images of another identifiable person knowing that the pictures would cause emotional distress on that person. Private body part means the whole or portion of the anus, genitals.

Revenge porn is a misdemeanor offense with custody in the county jail of up to six months and a maximum fine of $1,000. The fine can increase to $2,000 if you have prior convictions for revenge porn and the victim was a minor.

Posting Harmful Information on the Internet, California Penal Code 653.2

Penal Code 653.2 makes it a crime to post information about other people on the internet in a manner that causes harm to them. This crime is also referred to as indirect cyber or electronic harassment. Posting information on an intimate partner makes this crime a form of domestic violence.

Violation of Penal Code 653.2 is a misdemeanor. However, there are two classifications of the misdemeanor, which include standard misdemeanor and gross misdemeanor. A standard misdemeanor is punishable by a maximum of six months in county jail and a maximum fine of $1,000. An aggravated or gross misdemeanor is punishable by a maximum fine of $1,000 and a county jail sentence of up to one year.  

California Penal Code 591, Damaging a Telephone Line

Penal Code 591 makes it a crime to disconnect, remove, obstruct, or injure telephone or electrical lines. In a case related to domestic violence, any damage to a telephone or electrical cable meant to block communication for your intimate partner counts as a violation of this statute.  

Violation of Penal Code 591 is a wobbler. A misdemeanor conviction can lead to a county jail sentence for a maximum of one year, while a felony conviction is punishable by a maximum of three years in jail. The judge might award the defendant with misdemeanor probation in place of jail time.  

Find a Domestic Violence Attorney Near Me

The possibilities of facing severe penalties when accused of any form of domestic violence are high. That's why it's essential to hire a domestic violence attorney if facing charges. At California Criminal Lawyer Group, we are committed to building strong defense strategies for anyone accused of domestic violence charges. Contact us today at 916-775-7660, and let us help you fight your charges.