Domestic Violence

What Is Domestic Violence Under California Law?

California prosecutes domestic violence under several statutes, and which one is filed determines your exposure.

Penal Code § 273.5 — Corporal Injury to a Spouse or Cohabitant. A wobbler, chargeable as a felony or a misdemeanor. It requires that the accused willfully inflicted a traumatic condition — a visible or internal injury, however minor — on a current or former spouse, cohabitant, dating partner, or the other parent of their child.

Penal Code § 243(e)(1) — Domestic Battery. A misdemeanor. It requires only unwanted or offensive touching of an intimate partner. No injury is required. A grab, a shove, or contact during an argument can support this charge.

The distinction matters enormously. The presence or absence of a documented injury is often what separates a misdemeanor from a felony.

Related Charges Filed Alongside Domestic Violence

Prosecutors rarely file domestic violence alone. Common companion charges include:

• Criminal Threats — Penal Code § 422
• False Imprisonment — Penal Code § 236
• Child Endangerment — Penal Code § 273a, when children were present
• Vandalism — Penal Code § 594, for property damaged during an incident
• Assault and Battery — Penal Code §§ 240, 242
• Elder Abuse — Penal Code § 368, where the alleged victim is 65 or older

Who Counts as an Intimate Partner?

California defines the relationship broadly — current and former spouses, registered domestic partners, current and former cohabitants, people in or formerly in a dating relationship, and the parents of a shared child. The relationship does not have to be current or ongoing.

Can Domestic Violence Charges Be Dropped?

This is the most common question we hear, and the answer surprises almost everyone.

The alleged victim cannot drop the charges. Once police make a report, the case belongs to the District Attorney’s Office, not to the person who called. The DA decides whether to file, whether to continue, and whether to dismiss.

California prosecutors pursue domestic violence cases even when the accuser recants, refuses to cooperate, or asks that the case be dropped. Offices anticipate this and build cases designed to proceed without the accuser’s testimony — using 911 recordings, body camera footage, photographs, medical records, and statements made at the scene.

That said, cases do get dismissed or reduced. It happens through the defense attorney demonstrating to the prosecutor that the evidence has problems: inconsistencies in the account, a lack of injury supporting the charged offense, a plausible self-defense claim, or a motive to fabricate. That’s a conversation between attorneys, not something the accuser can accomplish on their own.

If you’re the accused: do not contact the alleged victim to ask them to drop it. If a protective order is in place, that contact is a separate crime and it will be treated as consciousness of guilt.

Protective Orders

A domestic violence arrest almost always produces a protective order, and there are several kinds.

Emergency Protective Order (EPO). Issued by a judge at an officer’s request, often in the middle of the night. Takes effect immediately and lasts about a week.

Criminal Protective Order (CPO). Issued at arraignment and lasting through the criminal case. It can bar all contact and require you to stay away from a shared residence.

Domestic Violence Restraining Order (DVRO). A civil order obtained through family court, separate from the criminal case, and capable of lasting years.

These orders can remove you from your home, restrict contact with your children, and require you to surrender firearms — all before any finding of guilt. Violating one is a new criminal offense regardless of whether the protected person invited the contact.

→ Restraining Orders

What the Prosecution Has to Prove

For Penal Code § 273.5, the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that:

1. You willfully inflicted physical force on an intimate partner;
2. The force resulted in a traumatic condition; and
3. You were not acting in self-defense or defense of another.

Each element is contestable. Willfully excludes accidents. A traumatic condition requires an actual injury caused by the force — its absence, or an injury inconsistent with the account given, undermines the charge. And self-defense is a complete defense the prosecution must disprove.

For Penal Code § 243(e)(1), the bar is lower: willful and unlawful touching of an intimate partner in a harmful or offensive manner. But the same self-defense and intent questions apply.

Domestic Violence Penalties in California

Penal Code § 273.5 (Wobbler)

Charged as a misdemeanor, it carries county jail exposure, fines, and probation. Charged as a felony, it carries state prison exposure that increases with the severity of injury and with prior convictions.

Penal Code § 243(e)(1) (Misdemeanor)

County jail exposure, fines, and probation.

Standard Conditions in Nearly Every Case

• 52-week batterer’s intervention program — mandatory for domestic violence probation in California, weekly, at your own expense
• Criminal protective order for the duration of probation, often longer
• Firearm prohibition — 10 years under California law for a misdemeanor conviction, and a lifetime federal ban under the Lautenberg Amendment
• Fines, fees, and victim restitution
• Community service or labor

Consequences Beyond Sentencing

• Child custody. California Family Code § 3044 creates a rebuttable presumption against awarding custody to a parent with a domestic violence conviction within the past five years. This is frequently the most consequential outcome of the entire case.
• Immigration. A domestic violence conviction is a deportable offense for non-citizens, including lawful permanent residents.
• Employment and licensing. These convictions appear on background checks and affect healthcare, education, security, and law enforcement careers.
• Housing. Protective orders and convictions both affect rental applications.
• Military service. The federal firearm ban is effectively career-ending for service members.

Defenses to Domestic Violence Charges

Self-defense or defense of another. The person who called 911 is not necessarily the person who started it. Officers responding to a chaotic scene frequently arrest the larger or calmer party. If you were protecting yourself or a child, that’s a complete defense.

False or exaggerated allegations. Domestic violence accusations surface during custody disputes, divorce filings, and immigration proceedings, where an allegation carries strategic advantage. Timing, prior threats to call police, and inconsistencies in the account are all investigable.

No traumatic condition. A § 273.5 charge requires an actual injury caused by the force. Where photographs show nothing, medical records show nothing, or the injury pattern doesn’t match the description, the felony charge is vulnerable.

The injury was accidental. Willfulness is required. Injuries occurring while separating, while intoxicated, or during a mutual struggle may not meet that standard.

Mutual combat. Where both parties engaged, the question of who was the aggressor becomes genuinely contested rather than assumed.

Insufficient evidence. Many of these cases rest on a single account given during a high-emotion moment, with no witnesses and no corroboration.

Constitutional violations. Warrantless entry, un-Mirandized questioning, and improper interrogation all give grounds to suppress evidence.

Why a Former Prosecutor Matters in a Domestic Violence Case

Domestic violence units operate under policies that other units don’t. Filing decisions follow office-wide protocols. Cases proceed without cooperating witnesses by design. There are standing positions on what gets reduced, what gets dismissed, and what never does.

Polina Logrue worked inside that system at the Orange County District Attorney’s Office. She knows what a prosecutor is required to prove, what the office does when an accuser recants, which weaknesses actually prompt a re-evaluation of a filing, and how to present those weaknesses in a way that gets taken seriously rather than dismissed as advocacy.

Meet Polina →

Arrested for Domestic Violence? Do These Things First

1. Read the protective order and follow it exactly — including no phone calls, no texts, and no messages passed through friends or family.
2. Do not contact the alleged victim, even if they reach out to you first. Their invitation is not a defense.
3. Preserve everything — texts, call logs, photos, emails, and the names of anyone who was present or nearby.
4. Photograph any injuries you sustained, immediately. Self-defense claims live or die on this.
5. Don’t explain your side to police. Explanations get used as admissions.
6. Call an attorney before your arraignment, when the protective order terms are set.

Call (949) 758-4469 · Free Consultation