Newport Beach Domestic Violence Attorney

California has a serious issue with domestic violence, and it crosses the boundaries of wealth, education, and cultural background. While Newport Beach is thought of as an ideal place to live far away from inner city problems, the community is not without its criminal charges, including accusations of violence between family members. The definition of domestic violence is incredibly broad; it covers a variety of different actions, including physically abusing, mentally abusing, or sexually abusing someone. It includes threatening someone or other actions that may make someone fearful of being hurt. A domestic violence charge may also be considered a felony or a misdemeanor. This is determined by looking at the severity of the crime.

The Newport Beach domestic violence attorney at the Johnson Criminal Law Group has seen too many instances of family conflicts becoming a tragic “he said she said” battle about domestic violence. Newport Beach is certainly not immune to these types of situations of bitter divorces, alimony complaints, and vicious personal attacks over issues of child custody. There are two types of child custody: physical custody and legal custody. Parents with physical custody have their child or children physically live with them. Parents with legal custody possess the right to make decisions about their child or children’s welfare. Domestic violence accusations can have a huge impact on child custody cases. Therefore, some may use a false domestic violence accusation to their advantage in order to gain child custody or negatively affect the other party’s child custody rights. If the domestic violence conviction or finding occurred within the last five years, then the judge can consider it when trying to determine the best parental path for the child in their best interest to ensure their safety. Domestic violence is a crime and it should not be accused lightly, but too often people use it for their personal gain, which can destroy the accused person’s life, even if it turns out to be a false allegation. A domestic violence allegation, even if it is false, may result in many damaging consequences, including fines or other legal consequences.

California Penal Code section 273.5 includes the broad provisions for domestic violence, which includes the crime of bodily injury on a current or former spouse, a person with whom you live or have lived, or the mother or father of your child. This section includes many types of “violent injury,” including something as slight as a bruise or swelling. The other section that is often used in domestic violence cases is Penal Code section 243(e)(1), which is domestic battery. It makes it a misdemeanor, in other words a less serious crime than a felony, to use force against the same categories of people. But this section does not require any visible injury at all.

The Newport Beach domestic violence attorney at the Johnson Criminal Law Group believes passionately in her criminal defense work and has experience advocating for criminal defendants accused of domestic violence. For a consultation about your case, call the Law Office at (949) 622-5522.