Difference between California Corporal Injury (PC 273.5) and Domestic Battery (PC 243(e)(1)?

welcome back to lostass channel my name is anthony wilson i'm a criminal defense attorney in the southern district of california here in san diego as you're well aware i handle both federal and state cases and in this video we're going to talk about two california statutes that deal with domestic violence and hopefully after you finish watching this video you'll understand a little bit better the both of these statutes and what your attorney needs to argue to the prosecutor if you're trying to get a better plea deal [Music] in this video we're discussing two california statutes that deal with domestic violence it is obviously going to be your decision whether you want to plead guilty or take the case to trial if you're an individual thinking about taking your case to trial this video will assist you in understanding how the prosecutor will try to prove the case if he charges you with domestic battery or corporal injury now if you're an individual who is thinking about pleading guilty this video will help you understand the difference between two statutes and hopefully through mitigation your attorney will be able to negotiate one statute versus another and i'll show you the differences and the benefits of pleading guilty to domestic battery versus corporal injury so first let's discuss the elements of each crime [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] if you go to trial here's the things that the prosecutor will have to prove if we're talking about corporal injury there are four elements to the crime first the defendant willfully inflicted a physical injury number two the victim was an intimate or domestic partner with the defendant number three the injury resulted in traumatic condition and number four defendant act did not act in self-defense or defense of others now if we're talking about domestic battery the charge is similar and by the way i included both sections in the title here corporal injury is found under section 273.5 and domestic battery is found under 243 e-1 if we're talking about domestic battery there are only three elements number one that the defendant willfully touched the victim in a way that was harmful or offensive the second element is the same that the defendant and the victim are intimate or domestic partners and finally the third element is also the same the defendant did not act in self-defense or defense of others now in terms of the mandrea or the mental state of the defendant when he committed this crime both of these deal with willfully touching or willfully inflicting physical injury what is willfully well it's willingly or on purpose so not by accident or not through self-defense like it says here in element number four and woefully is the same under both statutes now the difference between corporal injury and domestic battery under corporal injury we do need to have this traumatic condition what are traumatic conditions we're talking about wounds bodily injuries and what are those broken bones bruises cuts etc we're not talking about emotional distress or anxiety we're really talking about physical conditions the biggest difference between two statutes is how they're charged and the penalties associated with either one of those if we're talking about corporal injury this section is a wobbler meaning that the prosecutor can charge you as a misdemeanor or as a felony if we're talking about a misdemeanor the penalty is one year in the county jail and summary probation and then if we're talking about a felony then we're talking about two three four scheme years in prison and a formal probation and of course if you have priors the penalties can go higher meaning if we look at your criminal history and there's some other history of domestic violence the penalties will go up in the domestic battery situation the domestic battery under 243 e-1 is simply a misdemeanor meaning that the penalty is one year in the county jail which is the maximum and summary probation of course your attorney and the prosecutor can agree or your attorney can later argue at sentencing that the maximum is too much and in some situations or in many situations the judge might not give you any time in jail under a misdemeanor it all depends on the facts but you will be on that summary probation so if you've decided to go to trial this video now helps you understand the differences between these statutes and what the prosecutor will have to prove at trial if you've made a decision to plead guilty urge your attorney to put a good mitigation packet to the prosecutor and convince the prosecutor either to go from a felony to a misdemeanor under corporal injury or even better go from the misdemeanor corporal injury all the way to the misdemeanor domestic violence if you enjoyed this video please click like subscribe hit that bell notification button so next time i post you'll be first to know thanks for watching [Music] [Applause] [Music] you