California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 545


Introduced by Assembly Member Melendez

February 23, 2015


An act to amend Section 273.5 of the Penal Code, relating to domestic violence.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 545, as introduced, Melendez. Domestic violence.

Existing law makes it a crime, punishable by a fine, by imprisonment, or by both a fine and imprisonment, for a person to willfully inflict corporal injury resulting in a traumatic condition upon a person with whom the defendant has been in a specified domestic relationship.

This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to these provisions.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

P1    1

SECTION 1.  

Section 273.5 of the Penal Code is amended to
2read:

3

273.5.  

(a) begin deleteAny end deletebegin insertEvery end insertperson who willfully inflicts corporal
4injurybegin delete resultingend deletebegin insert that resultsend insert in a traumatic condition upon a victim
5described in subdivision (b) is guilty of a felony, and upon
6conviction thereof shall be punished by imprisonment in the state
7prison for two, three, or four years, or in a county jail for not more
8than one year, or by a fine of up to six thousand dollars ($6,000),
9or by both that fine and imprisonment.

P2    1(b) Subdivision (a)begin delete shall applyend deletebegin insert appliesend insert if the victim is or was
2one or more of the following:

3(1) The offender’s spouse or former spouse.

4(2) The offender’s cohabitant or former cohabitant.

5(3) The offender’s fiancé or fiancée, or someone with whom
6the offender has, or previously had, an engagement or dating
7relationship, as defined in paragraph (10) of subdivision (f) of
8Section 243.

9(4) The mother or father of the offender’s child.

10(c) Holding oneself out to be the husband or wife of the person
11with whom one is cohabiting is not necessary to constitute
12cohabitation asbegin delete theend deletebegin insert thatend insert term is used in this section.

13(d) As used in this section, “traumatic condition” means a
14condition of the body, such as a wound, or external or internal
15injury, including, but not limited to, injury as a result of
16strangulation or suffocation, whether of a minor or serious nature,
17caused by a physical force. For purposes of this section,
18“strangulation” and “suffocation” include impeding the normal
19breathing or circulation of the blood of a person by applying
20pressure on the throat or neck.

21(e) For the purpose of this section, a person shall be considered
22the father or mother of another person’s child if the alleged male
23parent is presumed the natural father under Sections 7611 and 7612
24of the Family Code.

25(f) (1) begin deleteAny end deletebegin insertEvery end insertperson convicted of violating this section for
26acts occurring within seven years of a previous conviction under
27subdivision (a), or subdivision (d) of Section 243, or Section 243.4,
28244, 244.5, or 245, shall be punished by imprisonment in a county
29jail for not more than one year, or by imprisonment in the state
30prison for two, four, or five years, or by both imprisonment and a
31fine of up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000).

32(2) begin deleteAny end deletebegin insertEvery end insertperson convicted of a violation of this section
33for acts occurring within seven years of a previous conviction
34under subdivision (e) of Section 243 shall be punished by
35imprisonment in the state prison for two, three, or four years, or
36in a county jail for not more than one year, or by a fine of up to
37ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by both that imprisonment and
38fine.

P3    1(g) If probation is granted tobegin delete anyend deletebegin insert aend insert person convicted under
2subdivision (a), the court shall impose probation consistent with
3the provisions of Section 1203.097.

4(h) If probation is granted, or the execution or imposition of a
5sentence is suspended, forbegin delete anyend deletebegin insert aend insert defendant convicted under
6subdivision (a) who has been convicted ofbegin delete anyend deletebegin insert aend insert prior offense
7specified in subdivision (f), the court shall impose one of the
8following conditions of probation:

9(1) If the defendant has suffered one prior conviction within the
10previous seven years for a violation ofbegin delete anyend deletebegin insert anend insert offense specified in
11subdivision (f), it shall be a condition of probation, in addition to
12the provisions contained in Section 1203.097, that he or she be
13imprisoned in a county jail for not less than 15 days.

14(2) If the defendant has suffered two or more prior convictions
15within the previous seven years for a violation ofbegin delete anyend deletebegin insert anend insert offense
16specified in subdivision (f), it shall be a condition of probation, in
17addition to the provisions contained in Section 1203.097, that he
18or she be imprisoned in a county jail for not less than 60 days.

19(3) The court, upon a showing of good cause, may find that the
20mandatory imprisonment required by this subdivision shall not be
21imposed and shall state on the record its reasons for finding good
22cause.

23(i) If probation is granted upon conviction of a violation of
24subdivision (a), the conditions of probation may include, consistent
25with the terms of probation imposed pursuant to Section 1203.097,
26in lieu of a fine, one or both of the following requirements:

27(1) That the defendant make payments to a battered women’s
28shelter, up to a maximum of five thousand dollars ($5,000),
29pursuant to Section 1203.097.

30(2) (A) That the defendant reimburse the victim for reasonable
31costs of counseling and other reasonable expenses that the court
32finds are the direct result of the defendant’s offense.

33(B) Forbegin delete anyend deletebegin insert anend insert order to pay a fine, make payments to a battered
34women’s shelter, or pay restitution as a condition of probation
35under this subdivision, the court shall make a determination of the
36defendant’s ability to pay. An order to make payments to a battered
37women’s shelter shall not be made if it would impair the ability
38of the defendant to pay direct restitution to the victim or
39court-ordered child support. If the injury to a married person is
40caused in whole or in part by the criminal acts of his or her spouse
P4    1in violation of this section, the community property may not be
2used to discharge the liability of the offending spouse for restitution
3to the injured spouse, required by Section 1203.04, as operative
4on or before August 2, 1995, or Section 1202.4, or to a shelter for
5costs with regard to the injured spouse and dependents, required
6by this section, until all separate property of the offending spouse
7is exhausted.

8(j) Upon conviction under subdivision (a), the sentencing court
9shall also consider issuing an order restraining the defendant from
10any contact with the victim, which may be valid for up to 10 years,
11as determined by the court. It is the intent of the Legislature that
12the length of any restraining order be based upon the seriousness
13of the facts before the court, the probability of future violations,
14and the safety of the victim and his or her immediate family. This
15protective order may be issued by the court whether the defendant
16is sentenced to state prison or county jail, or if imposition of
17sentence is suspended and the defendant is placed on probation.

18(k) If a peace officer makes an arrest for a violation of this
19section, the peace officer is not required to inform the victim of
20his or her right to make a citizen’s arrest pursuant to subdivision
21(b) of Section 836.



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