The Kavinoky Law Firm concentrates on defending gay, bisexual and transgender Domestic Violence cases throughout the state of California.  If you or someone you care about has been accused of domestic violence (sometimes called Intimate Partner Violence, D.V., or IPV), you can contact the knowledgeable lawyers of The Kavinoky Law Firm without hesitation.  When things are at their worst, the criminal defense attorneys at The Kavinoky Law Firm are at their best.  With offices in Los Angeles, Newport Beach, San Francisco / bay area, Riverside / Inland Empire, and other California cities, lawyers of The Kavinoky Law Firm are available to defend you in any California courthouse.  Perhaps most important is that the criminal defense lawyers of The Kavinoky Law Firm care deeply about aggressively representing their clients and delivering individual client service that exceeds all expectations.

Darren Kavinoky, founding attorney, is AV-Rated by Martindale-Hubbell, an honor that identifies attorneys who have achieved the highest level of ethical integrity and skill.  Darren has twice been named a Super Lawyer Rising Star by Los Angeles Magazine, is a sought-after guest of many television and radio shows, and teaches criminal defense lawyers throughout the nation how to represent clients more effectively. 

Same sex domestic violence refers to abuse that is committed against one’s current or former intimate partner in an effort to gain and maintain control over that partner. Intimate partners are people who are civilly united, dating, formerly dating, living together, formerly living together or who have children together. The type of abuse may be physical, emotional, financial or a combination of any or all of them. Although gay and lesbian intimate partner abuse isn’t as widely discussed as heterosexual domestic violence, statistics reveal that it takes place just as frequently as does heterosexual intimate partner violence.

Domestic violence laws, in California, apply to all persons regardless of their sexual orientation. Depending on the severity of the crime and the actual crime committed, D.V. crimes may be filed as misdemeanors, felonies or “wobblers” (meaning that the crime may be prosecuted as either a misdemeanor or as a felony) and the penalties for intimate partner abuse range from fines to prison and consist of other consequences that include counseling, possible registration as a sex offender and child custody issues, to name a few. The following is a sampling of some of the crimes that are commonly filed as crimes of domestic violence in California, against homosexual couples and against heterosexual partners alike.

Infliction of injury may be charged against a person if he or she purposefully inflicted a physical injury upon his or her intimate partner. This crime is always a felony.

Battery is usually charged as a misdemeanor and may be filed against an individual who even barely touched his or her intimate partner if it was against that partner’s will. The charge will be filed as a felony if the partner suffered a serious injury as a result of the contact.

Sexual battery is a wobbler. It will be charged as a misdemeanor if an individual touched his or her intimate partner against that partner’s will for the purpose of sexual gratification, sexual abuse or sexual arousal. This crime will be filed as a felony if, at the time of the touching, the intimate partner was unconscious, drugged, disabled, institutionalized or unlawfully restrained.

If an individual intentionally violated a protective order that was previously issued against him or her that named his or her partner as the protected party, the defendant faces a misdemeanor conviction, unless he or she has a prior conviction for the same offense, in which case the crime may be filed as a felony.

If an individual prevented, dissuaded or attempted to prevent or dissuade his or her intimate partner from initiating a criminal complaint or from taking part in any other type of criminal proceeding, he or she may be charged with witness intimidation, which is a wobbler.

Criminal threats, also a wobbler, may be charged when an individual threatened to commit a crime against his or her intimate partner that would have resulted in serious injury or even death to the partner if executed and the partner feared for his or her safety as a result of the threat.

When a person followed or harassed and threatened his or her intimate partner, with the intent of placing that partner in fear, he or she may be charged with stalking as either a misdemeanor or a felony. The crime will definitely result in a felony charge if the offender also has certain prior convictions.

When facing a same sex intimate partner abuse charge, it is imperative that the accused hires a criminal defense lawyer who not only specializes in California D.V. crimes, but who is also sensitive to the special issues that gay and lesbian couples face within this area of the law. The trusted attorneys at the Kavinoky Law Firm have successfully defended countless individuals facing intimate partner violence charges and treat each client with the respect and compassion that he or she deserves. Contact them today for a free consultation.