Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

We live in California. My husband of 19 years has a non dignosed anxiety/stress disorder that causes him not to sleep well. Two months ago, after a period of 7 days of no sleep, he had a psychotic break, the first ever, and hallucinated that demons were attacking me and he thought he was trying to protect me, but actually attacked me. I sustained facial bruises and scratches and a lacerated/broken finger, he went with me to the dcotor's office several hours later where they 5150 'd him for a weeks stay at a mental hospital and he is now in follow up with a psychiatirst and is medicated. The DA's office is now charging him with a felony 273.5 charge. I want this to go away, how can I make the DA's office drop the charges completely, as I do not believe he knew what he was doing at the time of the attack and with appropriate medical care, which he is willingly getting, I do not believe it will ever happen again.


Asked on 4/05/10, 5:53 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Madan Ahluwalia Ahluwalia Law P C

You need to hire a lawyer. He might have defense based on medical condition. This appears very serious charge. Here is definition, if you were interested:

(a) Any person who willfully inflicts upon a person who is

his or her spouse, former spouse, cohabitant, former cohabitant, or

the mother or father of his or her child, corporal injury resulting

in a traumatic condition, is guilty of a felony, and upon conviction

thereof shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for

two, three, or four years, or in a county jail for not more than one

year, or by a fine of up to six thousand dollars ($6,000) or by both

that fine and imprisonment.

(b) Holding oneself out to be the husband or wife of the person

with whom one is cohabiting is not necessary to constitute

cohabitation as the term is used in this section.

(c) As used in this section, "traumatic condition" means a

condition of the body, such as a wound or external or internal

injury, whether of a minor or serious nature, caused by a physical

force.

(d) For the purpose of this section, a person shall be considered

the father or mother of another person's child if the alleged male

parent is presumed the natural father under Sections 7611 and 7612 of

the Family Code.

(e) (1) Any person convicted of violating this section for acts

occurring within seven years of a previous conviction under

subdivision (a), or subdivision (d) of Section 243, or Section 243.4,

244, 244.5, or 245, shall be punished by imprisonment in a county

jail for not more than one year, or by imprisonment in the state

prison for two, four, or five years, or by both imprisonment and a

fine of up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000).

(2) Any person convicted of a violation of this section for acts

occurring within seven years of a previous conviction under

subdivision (e) of Section 243 shall be punished by imprisonment in

the state prison for two, three, or four years, or in a county jail

for not more than one year, or by a fine of up to ten thousand

dollars ($10,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine.

(f) If probation is granted to any person convicted under

subdivision (a), the court shall impose probation consistent with the

provisions of Section 1203.097.

(g) If probation is granted, or the execution or imposition of a

sentence is suspended, for any defendant convicted under subdivision

(a) who has been convicted of any prior offense specified in

subdivision (e), the court shall impose one of the following

conditions of probation:

(1) If the defendant has suffered one prior conviction within the

previous seven years for a violation of any offense specified in

subdivision (e), it shall be a condition thereof, in addition to the

provisions contained in Section 1203.097, that he or she be

imprisoned in a county jail for not less than 15 days.

(2) If the defendant has suffered two or more prior convictions

within the previous seven years for a violation of any offense

specified in subdivision (e), it shall be a condition of probation,

in addition to the provisions contained in Section 1203.097, that he

or she be imprisoned in a county jail for not less than 60 days.

(3) The court, upon a showing of good cause, may find that the

mandatory imprisonment required by this subdivision shall not be

imposed and shall state on the record its reasons for finding good

cause.

(h) If probation is granted upon conviction of a violation of

subdivision (a), the conditions of probation may include, consistent

with the terms of probation imposed pursuant to Section 1203.097, in

lieu of a fine, one or both of the following requirements:

(1) That the defendant make payments to a battered women's

shelter, up to a maximum of five thousand dollars ($5,000), pursuant

to Section 1203.097.

(2) That the defendant reimburse the victim for reasonable costs

of counseling and other reasonable expenses that the court finds are

the direct result of the defendant's offense.

For any order to pay a fine, make payments to a battered women's

shelter, or pay restitution as a condition of probation under this

subdivision, the court shall make a determination of the defendant's

ability to pay. In no event shall any order to make payments to a

battered women's shelter be made if it would impair the ability of

the defendant to pay direct restitution to the victim or

court-ordered child support. Where the injury to a married person is

caused in whole or in part by the criminal acts of his or her spouse

in violation of this section, the community property may not be used

to discharge the liability of the offending spouse for restitution to

the injured spouse, required by Section 1203.04, as operative on or

before August 2, 1995, or Section 1202.4, or to a shelter for costs

with regard to the injured spouse and dependents, required by this

section, until all separate property of the offending spouse is

exhausted.

(i) Upon conviction under subdivision (a), the sentencing court

shall also consider issuing an order restraining the defendant from

any contact with the victim, which may be valid for up to 10 years,

as determined by the court. It is the intent of the Legislature that

the length of any restraining order be based upon the seriousness of

the facts before the court, the probability of future violations, and

the safety of the victim and his or her immediate family. This

protective order may be issued by the court whether the defendant is

sentenced to state prison, county jail, or if imposition of sentence

is suspended and the defendant is placed on probation.

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Answered on 4/10/10, 9:48 pm


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