If you or a loved one has been accused of domestic violence give our office a call. Domestic violence charges are complex and there can be several layers to the cases.
As a former probation officer, deputy district attorney and somoene that has practiced criminal defense for more than 15 years I have the knowlege to help yo through this. I have helped many hundreds of people through the same problems.
WHAT ARE THE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CHARGES?
Under Penal Code section 273.5 the crime is considered a wobbler which means the offense can be charged as a Felony or a Misdemeanor.
The elements are virtually the same
THE ELEMENTS OF OF PENAL CODE SECTION 273.5
1. Defendant willfully inflicted corporeal injury on victim.
2. Victim was either
defendant was either defendant’s spouse or former spouse
person with whom he or she was cohabitating with
fiance or former fiance or somoene wth whom the offender has, or previously has had an engagement or or dating relationship
the mother or father of his child
corporeal injury resulted in traumatic injury.
There is a another crime which you may be charged with that is Misdemeanor battery upon a spouse.
MISDEMEANOR BATTERY UPON A SPOUSE
Defendant committed battery upon the victim
At the time of the battery, Victim was the defendants spouse or fiance, or an individual with whom the defendant currently had or previously had, a dating relationship.
This offense is very similiar to the above described crime and both are serious there could be restraining orders, from the court regarding these cases they could also affect your ability to see your children or get custody of your children, and could have a lifetime impact on your ability to own or posses a firearm or buy a firearm.
AFFECTS ON OWNING A FIREARM.
Under California law if you are convicted of any Felony you cannot own or possess a firearm. For a non domestic violence felony if your felony is later reduced to a Misdemeanor per penal code section 17b and not through prop 47 you can again possess a firearm.
However, under Federal law if you are convicted of a Misdemeanor of Felony for domestic violence you can not buy a firearm, in fact when you go to buy a firearm you will blocked during the background from getting the firearm. This is a lifetime ban and what is worse is that this may even include conditional pleas to misdemeanor domestic violence cases.
WHAT IS A CONDITIONAL PLEA
A conditional plae is a plea where you plead guilty and then the case is dismissed and a not guilty plea is entered if you meet certain criteria such as completing domestic violence awareness class anger management and such. This may still be a reason for the federal government to keep you from you fireram rights.
In a different blog article i go through how you can defend yourself from domestic violence charges. As you can see this is a very complex and difficult area of the law and you should call us a soon as possible after you have been charged or arrested for domestic violence. Yous should not be talking to police until you have sought legal counsel as to your legal rights and responsibilities.
If you have questions give us a call at 559 441-1418 and we can get you through this we have helped many people under the same or similiar circumstances in more than 15 years of law and of a helping people througout the state of California.
If you have charges pending give us a call and it is best not to talk to police until you have spokent to a lawyer.
