Orange County Domestic Violence Defense Lawyer

Best Domestic Abuse Lawyer 

Domestic violence charges are very serious, and most district attorney’s offices in California retain a separate unit dedicated to prosecuting domestic violence cases. Prosecutors also tend to pursue jail time for domestic violence charges, even in first offense misdemeanor matters. Not least, it is important to note that, even if your accuser “recants” their allegations or changes this/her mind and decide that they do not want to press charges, the district attorney’s office may still pursue the case, and they often do. No judicial system is perfect, and the nature of ours is such that innocent persons, as well as guilty ones, may be accused of and prosecuted for domestic violence. That is also because relationships, especially ones involving an intimate partner, can be fraught with emotion, and, often times, an accuser may make a completely false allegation of domestic violence out of anger, jealous, to gain an edge in child custody or divorce cases, or simply out of spite.

Other times, there may have been physical contact between two persons, but that contact may have been an accident or the accused/arrested person may have been acting in self-defense during a fight, a struggle, or other physical altercation.

Moreover, there are incidents where a person is guilty of domestic violence; however, the prosecutor may be pursuing a level of punishment that exceeds the nature of the crime or fails to consider the nuances of the case.

In domestic violence cases, a thorough investigation of all the facts is the key to an aggressive, and successful, defense. Prosecutors often have preconceptions and beliefs about what took place, and it is your Orange County domestic violence attorney ’s job to present your side of the story and to humanize you to the prosecution, and before the court. With that said, the most common domestic violence codes include:

What are False Allegations In Domestic Violence Cases

Our Orange County domestic violence lawyer will not tolerate the manipulation of the courts under false pretenses. If you are being held liable for any reason in these circumstances, we can help defend your rights—and ensure that justice is served

At Tabibnia Law Firm, we provide legal consultations to all victims of domestic violence, including those who have been falsely accused.

Domestic Violence Cases: Understanding The Issues

All of these crimes—assault, battery, threats and intimidation—are prosecuted aggressively when the victim is a spouse, cohabitant, dating partner, or parent of the offender’s child.

The legal process must rectify the lives of our clients who have been disrupted by these extenuating circumstances. The physical and emotional toll it takes on the lives of our clients must be empowering so that each individual our Orange County domestic abuse lawyer represent can move forward with positivity and self-respect.

Domestic abuse can take many forms, including the following:

• Physical Abuse

Any form of physical violence or assault, such as hitting, slapping, choking , pushing or kicking.

• Financial Abuse

Using harsh financial accountability, constraints and penalties to keep another person financially dependent on you.

• Sexual Abuse

The pressure or requirement to perform sexual acts, whether initiated by threats of violence or blackmail.

• Verbal Abuse

Name-calling, personal attacks and yelling or screaming are all forms of verbal abuse.

• Social Abuse

Putting people down or trying to control other people’s behavior so that you can feel superior

• Spiritual Abuse

Preventing another person from practicing their religion or celebrating religious holidays.

• Threatening Behavior

Breaking furniture, threatening people verbally or physically—all of these are intimidating actions.

• Unwanted Communication

Harassing or intimidating communication—such as phone calls, text messages and emails—through physical mail.

In every Orange County domestic violence case, the facts are different. This can make you feel like no one understands what you’re going through.

Contacting an experienced Orange County domestic violence lawyer at Tabibnia Law Firm will allow you to feel supported and reassured during your case.

Domestic Violence as a Felony or Misdemeanor

The prosecutor is responsible for reviewing the evidence and deciding what charges to file based on the severity of a victim’s injuries. If someone’s injuries are minor, the police will usually file a misdemeanor charge. Serious injuries, such as broken bones or cuts requiring stitches, often lead to felony charges. If the victim of this crime is seriously injured, the crime will be considered a “strike” under California’s Three Strikes Law. A conviction on that charge would then enhance future penalties in any other case against you.

Past criminal records can be influential factors in prosecutors’ decisions whether to file charges as felonies or misdemeanors. If you are convicted of a felony domestic violence charge, the court may sentence you to a lengthy term in prison. In addition, the judge may order you to pay restitution and fines. In some cases, a court-issued restraining orders prohibits contact between you and your victim. Contact may occur indirectly, via friends or others who call the victim on your behalf.

A Orange County domestic violence lawyer who has significant prior experience as a senior District Attorney will help you to achieve the best possible outcome if you are charged with this offense. If the situation is serious enough, an attorney may be able to provide police or prosecutors with facts that will result in charges being removed from a felony category down into the misdemeanor classification.

If you are charged with a misdemeanor for committing a less serious domestic violence offense, an attorney can work to keep you out of jail and have the charges reduced from felonies to simple misdemeanors or dismissed altogether.

Domestic Violence Charges

• 273.5(a) PC – Corporal Injury to Spouse. A felony can result in a prison sentence of two, three or four years. A misdemeanor is punishable by up to one year in county jail. The prosecutor must prove that you willfully inflicted a traumatic injury on another person, and the victim is any of: your spouse or ex-spouse; someone with whom you have a child in common; or anyone with whom you once lived as if married. The injury need only be slight.
• 273.6(a) PC- Disobeying a Domestic Relations Court Order . The punishment for a felony conviction of this section is 16 months, 2 or 3 years in prison. In order to be found guilty under this statute, there must have been an earlier conviction on the same charge. If there is no previous conviction, the case will be treated as a misdemeanor and may result in a sentence of up to one year imprisonment with the minimum amount required to be served if physical injury was present. A California prosecutor must prove that you knowingly and intentionally violated a valid court order, which was issued by a California court and served on you. This crime often occurs during custody disputes when one person goes over to pick up the children and the other calls police or gets a court order but offender violates it.
• 242-243(e)(1) PC – Battery. Because this crime is a misdemeanor, the maximum penalty for committing it is 1 year in jail. It is up to the prosecutor to prove that you used force or violence against a person with whom you had an intimate relationship. This often happens in bars and other places where people gather socially—hence its name, “bar fight” or “fist flight.” Pushing another person away from you in an aggressive manner can result in a charge of battery being filed against you.
• 240-241(a) PC – Simple assault. This crime, as a misdemeanor, can result in up to 1 year of jail time. The prosecutor must prove that when you had the ability to harm someone, you tried to commit a violent injury on another person. There is no need to have a physical injury. This crime often occurs during heated arguments when someone swings at another person but misses. You can be charged with this crime even if you did not hit the other person.
• 422 PC – Criminal Threats. This crime can be filed as a felony or a misdemeanor, depending on the circumstances. The penalties for a felony are: 16 months, 2 or 3 years in state prison. The prosecutor must prove that you willfully and unlawfully threatened to commit a crime, which would result in death or great bodily injury, and made the statement with the intent to threaten. This crime is most often committed when a person threatens directly and personally to kill someone.
• 653m(a) PC – Making an annoying phone call. The penalty for this offense is a maximum of six months in jail. In order for the prosecutor to convict you of making criminal threats, he must prove that you made a threat over the phone or through electronic means with intent to cause injury. In domestic situations this often happens when one person gets angry during a telephone conversation with the other.
• 136.1(b)(1) PC – Dissuading a witness from reporting a crime. This crime can be charged as either a misdemeanor or felony. If it is charged as a misdemeanor, the maximum punishment can be up to 1 year of jail time. The penalty for committing a felony ranges from 2 years in prison to 16 months, depending on the charge. The prosecutor must prove that you tried to prevent a witness or victim of a crime from making an initial report or any subsequent reports—either directly, by threatening them into silence, or indirectly (for example by discrediting the person). This happens when you ask a person not to report a crime or after the heated argument is over—but then it’s too late and the prosecutor has filed charges.
• 591 PC – Damage to a telephone or cable line. If the crime is classified as a misdemeanor, then the punishment may include up to 1 year in jail. Punishment for a felony can include imprisonment for up to 16 months, 2 years or 3 years. The prosecutor must prove that you damaged or removed a telephone willfully and maliciously. This crime is usually committed by people who are arguing, threatening to call for help. As a result one of them rips the phone line from its socket or otherwise damages it so that no one will be able to get in touch with them.

PENAL CODE 273.5 – CORPORAL INJURY TO A SPOUSE OR COHABITANT

Penal Code Section 273.5 reads:

(a) Any person who willfully inflicts corporal injury resulting in a traumatic condition upon a victim described in subdivision (b) is guilty of a felony, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for two, three, or four years, or in a county jail for not more than one year, or by a fine of up to six thousand dollars ($6,000) or by both that fine and imprisonment. (b) Subdivision (a) shall apply if the victim is or was one or more of the following: (1) The offender’s spouse or former spouse. (2) The offender’s cohabitant or former cohabitant. (3) The offender’s fiancé or fiancée, or someone with whom the offender has, or previously had, an engagement or dating relationship, as defined in paragraph (10) of subdivision (f) of Section 243. (4) The mother or father of the offender’s child.”

Explanation

Penal Code 273.5 makes it a crime to willfully (or intentionally) inflict a “corporal injury” resulting in a “traumatic condition.” A person may be charged with PC 273.5 if they are alleged to have committed this crime by striking or hitting their intimate partner with force or violence. Generally, this code section is charged when there is a visible physical injury to the accuser. Examples of injuries include scrapes, bruises, swelling, redness, welts, bleeding, or otherwise.

Legal Defenses

You were acting in self-defense,
Your actions were not intentional or willful,
You are being falsely accused and did not commit the domestic abuse

Penalties

A charge of willful infliction of corporal injury (PC 273.5) is called a “wobbler,” meaning that the district attorney retains the discretion to charge it as either a misdemeanor or a felony. The determination of how a PC 273.5 will be charged is primarily based upon the facts of the case and the criminal history of the defendant. When charged as a misdemeanor, Penal Code 273.5 carries a potential sentence of up to one (1) year in county jail, and/or a fine of up to six thousand dollars ($6,000). If PC 273.5 is charged as a felony, it carries the possibility of a two (2), three (3), or four (4) year California State Prison term.

PENAL CODE 243(e)(1) – DOMESTIC BATTERY

Penal Code Section 243(e)(1) reads:

“When a battery is committed against a spouse, a person with whom the defendant is cohabiting, a person who is the parent of the defendant’s child, former spouse, fiancé, or fiancée, or a person with whom the defendant currently has, or has previously had, a dating or engagement relationship, the battery is punishable by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars ($2,000), or by imprisonment in a county jail for a period of not more than one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment. If probation is granted, or the execution or imposition of the sentence is suspended, it shall be a condition thereof that the defendant participate in, for no less than one year, and successfully complete, a batterer’s treatment program, as described in Section 1203.097, or if none is available, another appropriate counseling program designated by the court. However, this provision shall not be construed as requiring a city, a county, or a city and county to provide a new program or higher level of service as contemplated by Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.”

Explanation

Under Penal Code 243(e)(1), it is a misdemeanor crime to cause violence or inflict force on an fiancè, spouse, former spouse, cohabitant, a dating partner, the parent of your child, or anyone else qualifying as an intimate partner. The distinction with the more serious charge of PC 273.5 is relatively simple: PC 243(e)(1) does not require a visible injury; a simple shove or pulling of the victim’s clothing may suffice for a domestic battery PC 243(e)(1) charge.

Legal Defenses

You were acting in self-defense,
Your actions were not intentional or willful,
You are being falsely accused and did not commit the domestic abuse

Penalties

The potential penalties for a conviction under PC 243(e)(1) include a fine of up to two thousand dollars ($2,000), and/or imprisonment in the county jail for up to one (1) year.

As with PC 273.5, punishment and sentencing for PC 243(e)(1) varies depending on (1) the seriousness of the injuries, if any, (2) the actions of the defendant and (3) the defendant’s criminal record. But most counties impose a minimum 30 days jail, even for first-time misdemeanor convictions. Some form of domestic violence courses – often for 52 weeks – and/or anger management classes are often also ordered.

Immigration Consequences

It is important to note that a domestic violence conviction can lead to serious immigration consequences for defendants who do not retain U.S. citizenship. That is because most of domestic violence offenses constitute what are called “crimes of moral turpitude” and may trigger deportation proceedings by the federal government.

Not least, as with any serious conviction, domestic violence may remain on a person’s permanent criminal record and always surface during background checks for employment, benefits or licensing.

For the reasons set forth above, it is critical that you aggressively fight your case in order to prevent a conviction or, in the alternative, to get your charges reduced or dismissed.

We Also Focuse On The Following Practice Areas:

• Divorce
• Child Custody
• Child Support
• Children’s Law
• Same-Sex Divorce
• Spousal Support
• Fathers’ Rights
• Grandparents’ Rights
• Dependency
• Paternity
• Prenuptial Agreement

Contact Orange County Domestic Abuse Attorneys For A Consultation

Dealing with a Orange County domestic violence case can be extremely stressful. If you feel that your safety or reputation is in danger, due to false allegations of domestic violence, contact Orange County criminal defense attorney at TABIBNIA LAW FIRM, California today 866-713-2159 and schedule a consultation.

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