Many people across Los Angeles and California are being charged with domestic violence and spousal abuse.  Basically, spousal abuse and domestic violence are the same thing.  It has to do with one party using some sort of physical force against another unlawful party.

In other words, it's not reasonable under the circumstances.  Usually, you'll see some sort of an injury. Still, it's not completely necessary, and the legislature has really taken this issue up and put a lot of mandatory punishments on anyone who's convicted of a domestic violence-related offense.

California Penal Code 243(e)(1), domestic battery, is typically charged for a misdemeanor case. California Penal Code 273.5, corporal injury to a spouse, is normally charged for more serious domestic cases when the victim sustains an injury.

So, even if you get your case reduced, a lot of time, the subject matter involved is domestic violence; you're still going to have to deal with the penalties of losing your ability to own a firearm for ten years and a host of other penalties that come along with a domestic violence case. These penalties can have long-lasting effects on your personal and professional life.  So, obviously, having defenses for these cases is crucial.

Self-Defense Argument in Domestic Violence Cases

One defense is certainly that you were just defending yourself.  Maybe somebody got mad, they attacked you, you defended yourself, and in defending yourself, that other party got injured.  If you can prove that and if you can show that you were just defending yourself then that's a complete defense to the crime.

The issue in these self-defense cases becomes whether or not you used reasonable force under the circumstances.  Sometimes, it's a he-said/she-said situation, and a jury is just going to have to sort it out.

Other times, the evidence doesn't support what the alleged victim is claiming, and that's a way to establish that your version of events is the true version of events.  So, self-defense is one defense.  It can be a complete defense to a domestic violence charge.

Another defense that I see used is that, yes, I did argue with the person, but I wasn't the aggressor.  I was acting within my legal rights.  I did push the person.  Maybe I hit the person, but again, it was in self-defense.

You could also have a defense against domestic violence if you're defending another person.  Let's say someone is attacking your child, and you defend your child, and in defending your child, the other party gets injured.  The defense of another can be a domestic to a domestic violence-related charge.

False Allegation

Another defense is I didn't do it.  In other words, I didn't commit any domestic violence against this person.  They don't have any injuries; I didn't have anything to do with it.  If they have injuries, the argument could be that I didn't cause those injuries.  They caused them to themselves.

Maybe somebody else caused them to them, but I wasn't the one that did it.  That's certainly a defense in a domestic violence case that you're not the one that did it.  Obviously, to be able to run that defense, you would have to be able to show that you didn't do or say anything that would support the fact that you did get in some sort of an altercation with the other party.

So, those are the main defenses when it comes to domestic violence cases in Los Angeles.  As far as specifics on how to defend the case, obviously, that's going to be left up to your attorney, depending on what the facts and circumstances are surrounding your case.

Your attorneys will make the decisions strategically as far as what they're going to do. However, they're going to keep you in the loop because your testimony and involvement in the case are crucial. You want to make sure that your testimony fits in with the rest of the testimony and the cross-examination, the arguments, the witnesses, and the evidence that your defense attorney is putting in.

A lot of times, as the prosecutor's case is coming up because they go first, your defense attorney is cross-examining them, and then the defense has a chance to put on any evidence.  Usually, what I will do is save my defendant for last — assuming that my defendant's going to testify — that way, we utilize our advantage of hearing all the evidence first before you testify and that way, we can address every single issue and make sure that we bolster those issues that support your version of events.

So, if you've got a domestic violence case, looking at who the aggressor was, looking at what evidence the prosecutor has, and having the best Los Angeles domestic violence attorney you can find is definitely in your best interest. With the right defense strategy, a not-guilty verdict is a real possibility for your case.