Can a Domestic Violence Charges That Was Dropped

Prosecutors need to make decisions regarding how to file or proceed with a instance based on the evidence.

Below is a list of 5 reasons Aizman Law Business firm has seen prosecutors drop domestic violence or domestic bombardment cases.

Past clicking on the links below you tin can skip to the section your almost interested in reading.

1. Insufficient Evidence

There are 3 categories of domestic violence:

Unproblematic domestic violence
Aggravated domestic violence
Corporal injury to a spouse or former cohabitant

A major reason for dropping any criminal case is the insufficiency of the show.

When appellate courts review an outcome regarding sufficiency of the prove, the standard is if the trier-of-fact upon viewing the testify in the light about favorable to the prosecution would conclude that no rational fact-finder would accept found the accused guilty beyond a reasonable doubtfulness.^one.Separator with Text

Domestic Battery

Successfully prosecuting a defendant for domestic violence means that the prosecutor must show each element of the offense by the standard of beyond a reasonable dubiousness.

The elements of domestic battery are:

Yous willfully touched another person
The touching was harmful or offensive
The person whom yous touched is a current or former intimate partner

Domestic Violence

If the charge is for inflicting a battery on a former spouse, the other parent, or a former cohabitant and the force applied resulted in a traumatic condition (any wound or injury regardless of severity), and so there are boosted elements:

The traumatic condition was the natural and probable result of the injury
The injury was a direct and substantial factor in causing the condition

For an aggravated domestic violence charge, the intimate partner must take suffered a serious bodily injury.

No Willfulness

A prosecutor might feel that the element of "willfulness" is missing.

What Is Willfulness?

Willfulness is "…simply a purpose or willingness to commit the deed… there is a defense for persons who commit the act through misfortune or past accident when information technology appears at that place was no evil pattern, intention or culpable negligence."².

For instance, if you accidentally touched someone or knocked a coffee cup or glass out of your girlfriend's mitt because you were swinging your arms to emphasize what you were saying, there is no evidence of willfulness to commit the act.

No Harmful or Offensive Touching

For simple domestic battery, the touching demand not take acquired a visible injury or hurting; only that information technology was offensive.

If you intentionally affect someone without their consent, it is potentially an offensive act. Under the law, "the least touching may constitute battery; force confronting a person is enough and need not be violent or severe and does not need to go out a mark. Information technology is enough if the victim's feelings are injured by the act."ⁱⁱⁱ.

A "touching" for purposes of a battery charge can include spitting in someone'southward confront or touching someone through his or her clothing. Knocking an object out of someone's hand is an offensive touching since the object was connected to your body unless it was accidental.

The touching must too have been offensive and not playful or accidental. If you hugged your ex-fiance without her consent or put your arm around an ex-girlfriend, your human action is likely bereft to rising to the level of offensiveness or harmfulness to constitute a bombardment for domestic violence purposes.

Traumatic Status was Not a Natural and Probable Consequence of the Injury

There may be a lack of evidence regarding how the traumatic injury was caused. If you pushed someone downwards a flight of stairs and the person suffered a broken leg, so the injury was a natural and probable consequence of pushing the person downward a stairwell even if you did non intend the victim to suspension his or her leg.

Merely if you pushed the person who then became enraged, stepped dorsum and vicious downwardly the stairs and bankrupt a leg, and then the inevitable traumatic status suffered by the victim was non the probable result of your having pushed him or her.⁴.

The Victim Is Not Credible

A prosecutor may also feel the evidence of a domestic battery is bereft because the victim'south credibility is suspect⁵.

For example, the victim may have a history of the following:

Mental illness
Making false accusations in the past, or
having a motive to fabricate the incident because the parties are embroiled in contentious custody or property distribution battle.

This might convince a prosecutor that in that location is insufficient show to convict the accused and to decline to file the charges.

Lack of Serious Actual Injury

A serious actual injury usually ways that the victim suffered an injury necessitating medical treatment or serious impairment of a physical condition.

It is besides protracted loss or damage of whatsoever function of a actual member or organ.

Examples Include:

Broken limb
Blackness middle or
A laceration or cut requiring stitches
Disfigurement
Concussion.^six.

Even if the injury required medical attention, that is not sufficient by itself to exist considered a serious bodily injury.

If a doctor testifies that the injuries were not serious, or that the victim was exaggerating the symptoms, and so this could convince the prosecutor to at least file less serious charges relating to the incident.

ii. Inconsistent Statements

A prosecutor will review any statements made by the defendant and victim.

In some cases, a victim will make a exact statement that is noted by police force followed by a written ane that will contain inconsistencies that an experienced defense force attorney volition exploit to challenge the veracity and credibility of the victim.

Witness Argument

In some cases, a witness' argument well-nigh the ferocity of the attack may exist inconsistent with his or her bodily physical condition that shows piffling or no injuries.

Additionally, a modify in a witness' story introduces elements of unreliability, poor retention, or outright lying that a defense chaser volition certainly signal out.^seven.

Victim Testimony

If there is a preliminary hearing, the victim'south testimony, if different at all from a written argument or from what a police officer previously testified to, could be seized upon by the defense force attorney to challenge the existence of probable crusade. Even if a courtroom finds probable crusade at the hearing, a prosecutor may doubt that a jury would discover the victim credible.

Inconsistencies may exist in these areas:

Why the victim was struck
The victim's relationship with the defendant
Time the incident occurred
Number of alcoholic drinks consumed
Whether drugs were used
On what role of the body the victim was struck
Alterations or inconsistencies inside the victim'southward argument or in subsequent statements while beingness questioned by police

An exaggeration by the victim would as well be seized upon by a defense force chaser.

Further, if even one attribute of a victim's statement is inconsistent with a subsequent statement, and then all of the victim's allegations could be doubtable.

Finally, an inconsistent statement, if fabric, tin can lead the trier-of-fact to find there is reasonable doubt. Evidence of a prior inconsistent statement should be used to evaluate a witness' brownie⁸.

Prosecutors are well enlightened of how dissentious inconsistent statements are and may exist hesitant to continue prosecution in the confront of conflicting accounts of what occurred or how the victim'due south injuries were sustained if any.

3. Lack of Visible Injuries

The lack of visible injuries does non necessarily mean that a domestic battery did not occur and is not required in order for a accused to be charged with domestic bombardment.

All the prosecutor needs in social club to accuse you is bear witness of a harmful or offensive touching. This includes pushing or shoving someone, spitting in their face up, or intentionally touching them in a rude or violent manner or through clothing.

If there is a visible injury, the defendant may exist charged with a felony, especially if the victim has a broken bone.

Corroborating Evidence

Withal, the lack of visible injuries may give some prosecutors break in deciding whether further prosecution is worthwhile.

In making this conclusion, a prosecutor will want to examine the circumstances surrounding the alleged incident and see if at that place is any corroborating testify.

4. Lack of Independent Witnesses

In many domestic violence and battery cases, there are no contained witnesses to the incident.

Does This Rule Out Prosecution?

This does not dominion out a prosecution since an arrest tin be fabricated based solely on the victim'due south allegations or on prove at the scene of a struggle or a visible injury on the victim.

The lack of an independent witness or tertiary party is not fatal to the prosecution.

A prosecutor may have evidence of the following:

New and visible injury to the victim,
Statements by the parties
Signs of a fight or struggle at the criminal offense scene.

Simply if at that place is little or no evidence of an injury or fight coupled with conflicting statements, and the defendant has no record of domestic violence, a prosecutor may choose to not pursue prosecution without an independent witness.

5. Compelling Refuse Request Letter of the alphabet Written By Attorney

Anytime after the defendant has been arrested or has been charged with domestic bombardment, the defence force attorney can submit a letter to the prosecutor.

The letter tin outline the reasons why the evidence is bereft to prosecute the accused or that there is considerable reasonable dubiety that either a battery occurred or that the defendant committed it.

Your Defense Chaser Can Indicate Out the Following Obstacles To A Successful Prosecution:

Lack of visible injuries on the victim
Accused has no prior domestic violence convictions⁹.
Reasonableness of the accused's statement to police at the scene
Inconsistencies or unreasonable assertions in the victim'southward argument or statements
History of mental illness by the victim
Motivation past the victim to allege domestic violence by the defendant
Victim's lack of credibility–bear witness of drug employ and booze
Lack of corroborating evidence of violence at the scene
No third party to corroborate allegations of violence or battery
Victim's reluctance or refusal to show confronting the defendant

People v. Johnson (1980) 26 Cal.3d 557; People v. Wood (1991) 226 Cal.App.3d 1043; People five. Guardado (1995) forty Cal.App.fourth 757, 761 [↩]
People five. Lara(1996) 44 Cal.App.fourth 102,109 [↩]
People v. Myers (1998) 61 Cal.App.4th 328; People five. Rocha (1971) 3 Cal.3d 893, 899-900 [↩]
People v. Gonzales(1999) 74 Cal.App.4th 382 [↩]
People v. Rincon-Pineda (1975) fourteen Cal.3d 864, 883-884 [↩]
People v. Burroughs (1984) 35 Cal.3d 824,831 [↩]
People v. Murillo (1996) 47 Cal.App.fourth 1104, 1107 [↩]
Murillo,47 Cal.App.4th 1104, 1107 [↩]
People v. Wheeler (1992) 4 Cal.4th 284 [↩]
Our domestic violence lawyers practice police force in the following California jurisdictions. Santa Clarita Valley, Antelope Valley, San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel Valley, Southern California, Los Angeles Canton, Santa Monica, Hollywood, Glendale, Sherman Oaks, Encino, Studio City, Burbank, Van Nuys, Chatsworth, San Fernando, Santa Clarita, Valencia, Palmdale, Lancaster, Pasadena, Alhambra, Malibu, Ventura County, Santa Barbara County, Orange County, San Bernadino Canton [↩]

Ms. Aizman is the founding chaser at Aizman Constabulary Firm, an award winning criminal defense attorney & old prosecutor for the city of Los Angeles. She regularly appears on CNN, Fox News, HLN & CBS News to provide legal insight on various legal topics. She is a proud fellow member of the California Attorneys For Criminal Justice, California DUI Lawyers Clan & the National College of DUI Defence

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