Welcome

When you're facing domestic violence criminal charges in criminal court, or a petition for domestic violence restraining orders in family law court, your future, and your family's future, may seem very uncertain and scary. This uncertainty and fear causes high stress and anxiety as you gather information and contemplate the unknown outcome.  The information contained here is offered to help defendants in a criminal case, or respondents in a family law case, better understand the law, procedure, punishment, and common defenses that are related to domestic violence cases. For more information about domestic violence cases, please contact our criminal defense and family law lawyers today for a free consultation. Our domestic violence lawyers have over thirty years combined experience in the San Bernardino County cities, including Redlands, Rialto, Fontana, Yucaipa, San Bernardino, and more.

Define Domestic in Domestic Violence

Domestic violence is a term used to define affirmative negative conduct between two persons who share a close affinity or blood relationship, such as a parent and child, a husband and wife, etc. In order for affirmative negative conduct to be considered domestic in nature, if at all, the relationship between two persons must fall within the definition of family code 6211. Under family law code 6211 all of the following are persons domestically related to each other: Spouses or former spouses, cohabitants or former cohabitants, persons in a relationship (or have been in a relationship), persons who have a child together where the father is presumed to be the parent of the child, and all other persons related by blood to the second degree (parent, child, aunt, uncle, grandparent, sibling, cousin, half-sibling, etc.). 

Define Violence in Domestic Violence

The term domestic violence refers not only to the relationship between two persons but also refers to the type of affirmative negative conduct (violence or abuse) between those persons. The negative conduct between two persons domestically related must fall within the definition of violence or abuse before the alleged defendant or respondent has committed domestic violence. Under the family law code, which is used in criminal and family law domestic violence cases, the term violence means any of the following acts between domestically related persons: assault, battery, threats, stalk, harass, disturb, or annoy another domestically related person, or purposefully destroy the property of a domestically related person.

Criminal v. Family Law Domestic Violence

The term domestic violence is a term commonly used by the general public and in the family law courts between petitioner and respondent with requests for domestic violence restraining orders (DVRO). The term domestic violence is not a commonly used term in criminal court. In criminal court, the term domestic term violence usually refers to one of two different crimes: inflict corporal injury to spouse (penal code 273.5(a)), and domestic battery (243(e)(1)). Also, in criminal court, the violence between domestically related persons must include some sort of actual touching before domestic violence charges are brought against the defendant; in family law court, non-touching negative conduct between domestically related persons, such as threatening, stalking, harassing, etc., may be the basis for a domestic violence restraining order. Finally, in criminal domestic violence cases, the defendant faces an actual jail or prison sentence as part of his or her punishment, as opposed to family law domestic violence cases where the respondent faces restrained conduct but not actual jail or prison sentence. 

As stated, this website is dedicated to a discussion of the different types of charges and civil wrongs commonly called domestic violence or domestic abuse. This includes a discussion of the crimes inflict corporal injury to spouse (PC 273.5(a)) and domestic battery (PC 243(e)(1)), as well as a discussion of domestic violence restraining orders sought between a petitioner and a respondent in family law court. We have included information on possible jail or prison sentences associated with PC 273.5(a) and 243(e)(1), along with other common punishments and defenses associated with those crimes, such as jail and prison sentences, fines, probation terms, domestic violence classes, and more. On the family law side of domestic violence cases we included information on necessary court forms, common defenses, and legal procedures. In many cases, the defendant in a criminal domestic violence case will also face domestic violence restraining orders in the family law court, and vice versa.

We hope that the information provided will help the reader acquire a better understanding of domestic violence cases in both criminal court and in the family law court. For more information, please contact our Redlands based criminal defense and family law lawyers for a free consultation. Our domestic violence lawyers have successfully represented clients in hundreds of domestic violence cases, including cases involving criminal charges of inflict corporal injury to spouse (PC 273.5(a)), domestic battery (PC 243(e)(1)), and family law cases involving domestic violence restraining orders (DVRO).  We are conveniently located in the city of Redlands, and represent clients in all San Bernardino County courts, including the cities of Ontario, Fontana, Rancho Cucamonga, Rialto, Redlands, Yucaipa, Highland, Victorville, San Bernardino, and more. Call today!