California has several domestic violence offense that cover disputes between intimate partners. Intimate partners are people who are married, divorced, living together or formerly living together, or who have children in common. California laws apply equally to heterosexual couples and same-sex partnerships.

If an individual purposefully injures his or her intimate partner, the individual can be charged with a felony, punishable by up to four years in prison and a fine of up to $6,000. This charge is called infliction of injury or “spousal abuse,” and can be brought against a defendant even if he or she barely touched the intimate partner.

All crimes have specific “elements” (facts) that the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt to convict a defendant. Each separate element of the charge must be independently proven or the jury must vote “not guilty.” The prosecution must prove three elements in order to obtain a guilty verdict in an infliction of injury case.

The first element is that the defendant inflicted bodily injury upon his or her intimate partner. Put simply, the victim’s injury must have resulted from direct force applied by the accused. It doesn’t matter how slight the force was, only that some amount of force was used.

The second element to be proven is that the infliction of injury was willful. “Willful” means that the individual had the willingness to inflict force. Willingness only deals with whether the accused intended to do the act, not with the amount of force used or the physical result of the force. If the accused willfully used the force in self-defense or in the defense of others, he or she is not guilty of this crime.

The final element in an infliction of injury charge is that the injury caused a “traumatic condition.” A traumatic condition is an external or internal injury. It does not matter how severe the injury was, that question is only important in determining whether the crime will be charged as a misdemeanor or felony. Any injury will qualify, regardless of how minor, if it wasn’t there before the defendant applied the force to his or her partner’s body.

To convict a defendant on any criminal charge, the prosecution must prove every element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. If the trial involves a jury, a criminal conviction requires all twelve members of the jury to be convinced that the charges are true. One juror’s disbelief is enough to prevent a conviction. An experienced criminal defense lawyer will raise doubts in the juror’s minds and aggressively defend his or her client’s rights.

An infliction of injury conviction is very serious. Having domestic battery charges filed against an individual can be a devastating experience and a conviction carries severe penalties. It is imperative for the accused to hire a skilled attorney who understands the elements to each domestic violence charge. The attorneys at the Kavinoky Law Firm are trained criminal defense attorneys who know how to help their clients avoid the legal consequences of intimate partner abuse charges. They can refute the elements needed for a conviction and have helped many individuals deal with the difficult circumstances of a California domestic violence charge.