An individual faces four years in state prison and up to a $6,000 fine if convicted of the California domestic violence crime that is infliction of injury. This crime may be charged when an individual, either straight or gay, willfully inflicts any injury, no matter how minor, upon his or her intimate partner. Within the GLBT community, intimate partners are persons who are or were civilly united, who are or were living together and who have children together. This charge can be brought against an individual even if he or she barely touched his or her intimate partner.

When an individual is convicted for this domestic abuse crime, there are several mandatory penalties that will be imposed and other penalties that may be imposed. One of the possible consequences that a defendant convicted of infliction of injury may face is a restriction on his or her professional license.

Under California law, a licensing board may suspend or revoke a license if the license holder has been convicted of a crime, if the crime is substantially related to the qualifications, functions, or duties of the business or profession for which the license was issued. It does not matter whether the conviction was the result of a jury trial, a guilty plea, or a no contest plea. This suspension or revocation may take place once the defendant is placed on probation, once the conviction has been affirmed on appeal, or once the timeframe within which to file an appeal has ended. In addition, there are several professional licensing boards that maintain their own standards and practices related to disciplining their license holders that may be even more restrictive.

In order to defend against a professional license restriction, it helps to have an attorney to argue against its application. An attorney has the knowledge and available resources to articulate why an infliction of injury conviction (under most circumstances) is not substantially related to the individual’s “qualifications, functions, or duties” of his or her job. In addition, the skilled attorney may recognize when the defendant’s licensing board is unlawfully imposing such a restriction in an effort to inappropriately discipline their otherwise competent license holder or using the restriction as a way to illegally discriminate against a gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender individual whose sexual orientation has been revealed due to his or her criminal case.

If either facing an infliction of injury charge or if recently convicted of the charge, hiring an experienced, knowledgeable criminal defense lawyer to help guard against a conviction and/or a possible professional license restriction is by far the smartest defense strategy. The LGBT supportive, experienced attorneys at the Kavinoky Law Firm have successfully defended countless individuals who have been charged with intimate partner abuse crimes and have helped them keep their families, careers, freedom and dignity in tact. When things are at their worst, the attorneys at the Kavinoky Law Firm are at their best! To discuss a potential professional licensing restriction, or any other legal matter, contact them today for a free consultation.