Domestic Violence Lawyer In Los Angeles

Why You Need a Domestic Violence Lawyer in Los Angeles

Being accused of domestic violence can result in severe legal consequences, including jail time, restraining orders, and the loss of child custody rights. A skilled domestic violence lawyer in Los Angeles can protect your rights, challenge the accusations, and work to reduce or dismiss the charges. With the right legal defense, you can safeguard your future and avoid long-term penalties.

Understanding California Domestic Violence Laws

Under California Penal Code § 273.5, domestic violence involves the infliction of injury on a spouse, cohabitant, or intimate partner. The penalties for domestic violence can range from probation to several years in prison, depending on the severity of the case and any prior convictions. It's essential to have an experienced attorney by your side to navigate the legal system.

How a Domestic Violence Lawyer Can Help

An experienced domestic violence lawyer will review the circumstances surrounding the charges, gather evidence, and work to discredit false accusations. They will also explore potential defense strategies such as self-defense or lack of intent to commit harm. Early intervention from a lawyer can significantly improve the outcome of your case.

Crimes that qualify as domestic violence can lead to serious penalties. This includes incarceration, fines, and collateral consequences such as restraining orders and restrictions on child custody. A domestic violence lawyer can help reduce or dismiss the domestic violence charges brought against you.

What Are California's Domestic Violence Laws?

Technically, domestic violence is not an individual crime in California. Instead, it is an element of criminal actions that make the penalties more severe – similar to an aggravating factor.

In California, the aggravating factor that turns an alleged crime into an allegation of domestic violence is the relationship between you, the defendant, and the purported victim, also known as the complainant. The precise nature of the relationship is necessary to turn a normal crime into a crime of domestic violence.

For example, the type of relationship needed for a criminal charge to become a domestic violence charge is different for the crime of spousal abuse, prohibited by California Penal Code 273.5 . It also differs from the crime of domestic battery under California Penal Code 243(e)(1) .

Spousal abuse requires the defendant and complainant to be either:

• Current or former spouses
• Current or former cohabitants
• Fiancés
• Currently or previously in a dating relationship
• Parents of a child (or children)

On the other hand, domestic battery is slightly different. It requires the relationship between the defendant and complainant to be:

• Current or former spouses
• Current cohabitants
• Fiancés
• Currently or previously in a dating relationship
• Parents of a particular child

While nearly identical, there is an important difference: charges of spousal abuse can come from altercations between former cohabitants, while charges of domestic battery cannot.

Domestic Battery in California – PC 243(e)(1)

Perhaps the most common crime of domestic violence in California is domestic battery, which is the intentional infliction of force against someone you have a close relationship with. Unlike more severe domestic violence crimes, domestic battery does not require the force to result in a visible injury.

Because domestic battery covers what can be relatively light violence, it is only a misdemeanor charge in California. Nevertheless, a conviction can come with up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $2,000. When charged as a felony, the penalties for Domestic Battery can encompass a sentence of up to four years in a state prison and/or a fine of up to ten thousand dollars.

Spousal Abuse in California – PC 273.5

A common but more severe form of domestic violence in California is spousal abuse. As shown earlier, while the group of people who can claim to be victims of spousal abuse is wider, there are more elements to the case that need to be proven in order for there to be a conviction—spousal abuse requires a willfully inflicted injury that results in a traumatic condition.

Importantly, the “traumatic condition” necessary to prove a case of spousal abuse has to be a wound or injury that was caused by direct physical force. These injuries can come directly from the defendant in the form of punches, kicks, or other physical contacts, or from the reasonably foreseeable consequences of that contact, like the bruises that come after being pushed down a flight of stairs.

Because spousal abuse involves injuries that are more severe than those necessary to prove a case of domestic battery, the penalties for spousal abuse under Penal Code 273.5 are significantly more extreme. In fact, prosecutors can pursue felony charges for spousal abuse if they think the facts warrant the accusation. If they choose to pursue a claim of spousal abuse as a felony, the penalties of a conviction include a fine of up to $6,000 and a jail sentence of up to four years. Otherwise, the offense is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $6,000 and up to one year in jail.

Subsequent Offenses of Domestic Violence in California

While the penalties for spousal abuse or domestic battery are significant, already, they become even worse if you have been convicted of a similar crime at some point in the last seven years.

For people facing a charge of spousal abuse, therefore, the penalties you could face if you get convicted are even worse if you have been convicted of spousal abuse or one of these in the past seven years:

• Assault and battery
• Sexual battery
• Domestic battery

If this is the case, the fine you could face for the current accusation of spousal abuse increases to a fine of up to $10,000, and a jail sentence of up to five years, rather than four.

Domestic Violence Consequences in California

Domestic violence charges can either be filed as a misdemeanor or a felony. The type of conviction is often influenced by the severity of the victim’s injuries, whether a weapon was involved, and if the crime was aggravated.

Domestic Violence Misdemeanor Penalty

Once you have been charged with a domestic violence misdemeanor, the persecutors can request the court to give you any of the following penalties:

• Court fine of $2,000
• Jail time for up to 12 months
• All of the above

Domestic Violence Felony Penalty

If you are charged with a domestic violence felony charge, the court might issue any of the following sentences as an appropriate penalty for your domestic violence crime:

• Jail time for up to 4 years (May be prolonged according to the severity of injuries of the victim)
• Mandatory attendance to a domestic violence class
• Jailtime for up to 7 years with a court fine of $10,000 in case a weapon was involved in the crime or if you have a history of attempted assault or sexual assault (Among other factors)

People who have a felony-level domestic violence offense on their criminal background will face a variety of repercussions and consequences that go above and beyond the criminal sanctions of their convictions. These can include:

Probation

The court may apply probation as part of the sentence in some domestic violence cases. Probation can include mandatory counseling, anger management classes, and a no-contact order with the victim. There may also be employment requirements and curfews or travel restrictions.

If an individual on probation violates any of the conditions imposed by the court, it can result in consequences, including additional probation requirements, fines, or even revocation of probation. This may lead to incarceration.

Restitution and Therapy

The court may order the defendant to pay restitution to the victim for medical bills, therapy costs, property damage, or other expenses related to the domestic violence incident. As part of a sentence, the defendant could be required to attend domestic violence counseling, anger management programs, or other forms of treatment. This can address the underlying issues contributing to the behavior.

Immigration and Employment Consequences

For non-U.S. citizens, a domestic violence conviction can lead to deportation or affect immigration status. This may be considered a deportable offense. At Kroger Law Group, we can help determine whether or not your case will lead to immigration issues.

Some domestic violence convictions can affect an individual's employment prospects and housing opportunities. Employers and landlords may conduct background checks and consider criminal history.

Loss of Firearm Rights and Protective Orders

Individuals convicted of domestic violence offenses may lose their right to possess firearms. We can help determine whether or not you may lose your right to firearms in your specific case.

Courts can issue restraining or protective orders, commonly referred to as "no-contact orders" or "restraining orders." This is done to prevent the accused from contacting the victim or coming near their residence, workplace, or school. Violating these orders can lead to additional charges and penalties.

Legal Defenses to Domestic Violence Accusations in California

An accusation of domestic violence is not a conviction – it just means that someone else is claiming that you did the deed. In order to obtain a conviction, the prosecutor will have to show, beyond a reasonable doubt, that those claims were correct.

a. Insufficient Evidence

One of the most common defenses – and often the most effective – is that there is not enough evidence to prove that you committed the crime you are being accused of committing. In many cases, domestic violence claims are unsubstantiated, with no witnesses or other evidence outside of the claimant's accusations. These cases turn into “he said, she said” scenarios that can be devastating to lose. Showing that the claimant's accusations cannot be trusted is often all that stands between you and a serious criminal conviction.

b. False Accusations of Domestic Violence

Because domestic violence situations are often emotionally intense – but also because the consequences of a conviction are severe – many accusations of domestic battery or spousal abuse come more from jealousy or anger than from actual violence. Fake accusations are a part of domestic violence law. Unfortunately, because the legal system has to take them seriously from the start, it is often up to you to prove that they are groundless and that the claimant is manipulating the justice system for their own gain. Proving this defense is difficult, but can seriously turn the tide of a devastating accusation.

c. Self-Defense

Many domestic violence incidents are not entirely one-sided. Your Los Angeles domestic violence defense lawyer may argue that both of the people involved caused physical harm. If you were merely protecting yourself when you hurt the claimant, it can be an effective defense to the accusation because you have a right to defend yourself.

Of course, self-defense is not an unlimited defense. It only serves as an excuse for domestic battery or spousal abuse if you

• Reasonably believed that either you or someone else was in imminent danger of suffering a bodily injury
• That the immediate use of force was necessary to prevent it; and
• You used only so much force as was necessary.

d. Lack of Intent

Both domestic battery and spousal abuse require the physical contact and injuries to be willfully caused. Accidentally hurting the claimant cannot lead to a conviction for domestic violence, as negligent conduct is far less culpable than deliberate conduct.

California Domestic Violence Prevention Act (DVPA)

This law serves as a cornerstone statute regulating domestic violence instances within the state. Under this act, domestic violence is defined as abusive conduct directed at an individual with whom the offender maintains or has an intimate connection. This may include current or former spouses, domestic partners, or cohabiting individuals. The DVPA outlines the legal entitlements and solutions afforded to domestic violence victims.

Victims of Domestic Violence

According to the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence, 40% of women in California experience some form of domestic violence. Nationwide statistics indicate every minute nearly 20 people suffer physical violence at the hands of a loved one. That figure adds up to over 10 million people annually affected by domestic violence.

Cancer.org tracking shows the number of new cancer cases and cancer deaths each year. On a national basis, the risk of being diagnosed with cancer at some point during one's lifetime is substantially smaller than the risk is of being injured or wounded by an intimate partner.

To press charges against your assailant you do not need to have sustained life-threatening wounds, and you need not be a spouse. Your legal rights extend to any close and intimate relationship. You can be a former spouse, a cohabitant or former cohabitant, a past or present girlfriend, boyfriend, or fiancé.

If circumstances necessitate you getting a restraining order, know that you need only to prove that there has been a threat made to harm you and/or your minor child to file for the petition. California also allows partners or family members to petition judges to remove firearms from those individuals who pose a threat.

FAQs about Domestic Violence in Los Angeles

Contact a Domestic Violence Lawyer Today

Domestic violence crimes can be charged as a misdemeanor or a felony. These charges often lead to increased penalties, including incarceration, fines, and collateral consequences. If you are facing domestic violence charges in California, a domestic violence lawyer from Kroger Law Group can defend you. We can build a solid defense to help you secure a plea deal or convince the judge to dismiss your charges entirely. Contact us today for a free consultation.