California’s domestic violence laws apply to crimes that are perpetrated against one’s intimate partner. The law defines GLBT intimate partners as those who are or were civilly united, as those who have children together, as those who are or were dating and as those who are or were cohabitating. When an individual threatens to commit a crime against his or her intimate partner that would result in death or serious bodily harm to that partner if the threat were executed, he or she would be charged with criminal threats as a domestic abuse crime, punishable by up to one year in jail or prison.

The gay-friendly attorneys at the Kavinoky Law Firm specialize in intimate partner abuse cases and are familiar with all of the different defenses that can be raised in a criminal threats D.V. case. They will do their best to make sure that their client’s side of the story is not only relayed to the judge and jury but believed as well.

Defenses that are applicable to a criminal threats charge include insufficient evidence, self-defense, false accusations, lack of intent and unreasonable interpretation. Insufficient evidence is a defense that may be raised even before the case goes to trial. If there was no proof of the threat, meaning that there was no physical evidence of or any witnesses to the threat, the defense attorney may be able to convince the prosecutor or judge to either reduce the charge or to dismiss it entirely due to a lack of evidence. Along those same lines, if the alleged threat was communicated in any way other than in a face-to-face confrontation, mistaken identity may serve as a defense.

Self-defense may also apply to a criminal threats domestic abuse charge if the defense claims that the accused suffers from battered person’s syndrome. This defense would apply if the accused has been severely victimized by his or her partner and only threatened his or her partner because he or she thought it was necessary to prevent death or serious bodily injury to him or herself that would have otherwise been inflicted by the partner.

False allegations may serve as a defense to this crime if, through a relentless cross-examination of the accuser or through a thorough investigation of the facts, an exceptional California domestic violence lawyer can prove that the self-proclaimed “victim” made up the allegation or fabricated evidence out of anger, jealousy, revenge or some other motive.

Defenses to criminal threats may also be found within the elements of the crime. This offense requires that the defendant had the “specific intent” to have his threat be taken as a threat. This means that if the accused was simply writing his thoughts in a diary, expressing him or herself in a poem, or only meant the threat as a joke, he or she could not be found guilty of this crime. Similarly, if the threat wasn’t “unequivocal, specific and immediate” the defendant could argue that it wasn’t intended to be an actual threat. It should be noted, however, that if the defendant meant for the threat to be taken as a threat but didn’t actually intend to commit the threatened crime, that will not serve as a defense, so long as the partner reasonably feared for his or her safety. If the defense can prove that a reasonable person in the same situation wouldn’t have taken the threat seriously, he or she can’t be convicted of this crime.

A criminal threats charge, while serious, is by no means unbeatable. The experienced, LGBT supportive attorneys at the Kavinoky Law Firm know how to review a criminal threats case to recognize the issues that will best defend their clients. They have successfully defended countless DV cases because they effectively communicate these defenses to the judge and jury in ways that make them relate to or feel for the accused. Contact them today for a free consultation.