California’s domestic violence laws are among the strictest when it comes to punishing offenders. Domestic abuse defendants face severe penalties in addition to irreparable damage to their reputations and, oftentimes, relationships. When an individual is charged with domestic violence and has a prior charge for any domestic violence crime – even if there was no conviction – that evidence may be introduced by the prosecution in the pending case. This type of evidence tends to infuriate the judge and jury, which can lead to an undeserved conviction. The best way to exclude prior evidence and, in turn, avoid being prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, is to hire a skilled GLBT friendly criminal defense attorney from the Kavinoky Law Firm.

In California, domestic abuse charges involve disputes between intimate partners. Although domestic violence used to only apply to heterosexual couples, California has expanded the laws to appropriately include same sex partners. Within the gay community, intimate partners are persons who are civilly united, living together, dating and who have children together. The laws apply even if the partners no longer remain together, so long as they were once involved in one of the above listed relationships.

As social awareness about intimate partner abuse continues to grow, the legislature is taking a tougher stand on offenders. The system shows its clear bias against the accused by allowing in evidence of prior charges of domestic violence – something that is unheard of in other areas of the law. Under most circumstances, evidence of previous charges are never allowed to be introduced as evidence, because the court knows that a jury will have a difficult time separating out the past conduct and the pending allegations. The fear is that a jury will convict a person based on what they did in the past instead of judging him or her based solely on the evidence of the allegations before them. Prior evidence always creates unfair prejudice to a defendant and is usually excluded because of that fact.

However, under California’s intimate partner violence laws, evidence of past conduct involving domestic abuse is admissible as evidence against the defendant in a pending case. Under this rule, it is not even necessary that the charges resulted in a conviction. This means that even if the prior allegations were proved false or if there was an acquittal, the evidence can, in essence, be used by the prosecution to show that the accused has a history of intimate partner abuse and would therefore likely abuse again. The previous charges don’t have to involve the same victim, don’t have to have occurred in the same way or have any other relationship to the pending crime. In addition, courts will often allow this type of evidence even if the past conduct was alleged years ago. This type of evidence is devastating to a defendant who is supposed to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

To a LGBT individual, this evidence can be even more damaging. Unfortunately, our society is still plagued by fear and ignorance towards anyone who appears different – towards anyone who isn’t “straight.” Gay persons who are accused of committing crimes, especially D.V. related crimes, may face jurors and even judges who are unfair in their treatment of and/or uncomfortable with gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual people. It’s even more of an uphill climb when that individual also has prior I.P.V. convictions and will therefore face even tougher scrutiny from the court.

All hope is not lost, however. A good, GLBT friendly criminal defense lawyer knows the appropriate constitutional arguments to raise and will clearly explain to a judge why admitting evidence of prior domestic abuse charges will unfairly prejudice a defendant and prevent him or her from receiving a fair trial. The assertive attorneys at the Kavinoky Law Firm specialize in California intimate partner abuse will ensure that their clients receive a fair trial and are treated with respect. Contact them today for a free consultation.