If you have been arrested for the crime of Battery or Spousal Battery, contact experienced criminal defense lawyer Max Gorby at (323) 477-2819.

• California Penal Code 242 — Battery
• California Penal Code 243(e)(1) – Spousal Battery

California Penal Code 242 — Battery. “Battery defined. A battery is any willful and unlawful use of force or violence upon the person of another.”

Simple battery. “The slightest touching can be enough to commit a battery if it is done in a rude or angry way.”

PC 242 Simple battery “- Someone commits an act willfully when he or she does it willingly or on purpose. It is not required that he or she intend to break the law, hurt someone else, or gain any advantage.”

California Penal Code 243(e)(1) – Domestic Battery / Spousal Battery

California Penal Code 243(e)(1) is a battery committed upon a spouse, former spouse, cohabitant, parent of the defendant’s child, fiancé, or anyone with whom the defendant has (or previously had) a dating relationship. California Penal Code Section 243(e)(1) domestic battery is a misdemeanor and carries a penalty of up to one year of county jail. Penal Code 243 e 1 is similar to Penal Code 273.5, except that it does not require the “traumatic condition” element. That is to say, the prosecutor need not show that there was a visible injury to the victim.

243.  (a) A battery is punishable by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars ($2,000), or by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding six months, or by both that fine and imprisonment. (b) When a battery is committed against the person of a peace officer, custodial officer, firefighter, emergency medical technician, lifeguard, process server, traffic officer, code enforcement officer, or animal control officer engaged in the performance of his or her duties, whether on or off duty, including when the peace officer is in a police uniform and is concurrently performing the duties required of him or her as a peace officer while also employed in a private capacity as a part-time or casual private security guard or patrolman, or a nonsworn employee of a probation department engaged in the performance of his or her duties, whether on or off duty, or a physician or nurse engaged in rendering emergency medical care outside a hospital, clinic, or other health care facility, and the person committing the offense knows or reasonably should know that the victim is a peace officer, custodial officer, firefighter, emergency medical technician, lifeguard, process server, traffic officer, code enforcement officer, or animal control officer engaged in the performance of his or her duties, nonsworn employee of a probation department, or a physician or nurse engaged in rendering emergency medical care, the battery is punishable by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars ($2,000), or by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment.

Find more information on enrolling in a batterers program in Los Angeles County.

Please contact Attorney Max Gorby at (323) 477-2819 regarding any questions related to California Penal Code section 242 PC  and 243 (e)(1) – battery against a spouse.