California’s domestic violence laws apply to crimes that are perpetrated against one’s intimate partner. LGBT intimate partners have children together, are or were dating, are or were living together and are or were civilly united. When an individual willfully, maliciously and repeatedly follows his or her intimate partner and also threatens that partner, he or she will likely be charged with stalking as a domestic abuse crime.

Stalking, like all other crimes, has certain “elements” or facts that must be proven before a defendant can be convicted of the crime. The prosecutor must prove each element independently, and if he or she can’t prove just one of the elements, the jury must acquit the defendant. An experienced California domestic violence lawyer knows how to individually attack each element to best defend his or her clients.

Stalking, as a D.V. crime, has three elements that comprise the charge. The first is that an individual willfully, maliciously and repeatedly followed or willfully and maliciously harassed his or her intimate partner. In this context, “harass” means to alarm, annoy or terrorize one’s intimate partner with no legitimate purpose on at least two or more occasions.

The second element that must be proven is that the individual also made a credible threat against that same intimate partner. A credible threat is a threat designed to place its recipient in fear for his or her safety or for the safety of his or her family and is made with the apparent ability to be executed. Whether or not the individual actually intended to carry out the threat is irrelevant to his or her defense.

The final element of a stalking charge is that the individual made the threat with the specific intent to place his or her intimate partner in reasonable fear. This means that this element would not be met and the defendant would thereby be entitled to an acquittal if he or she only intended the alleged threat to be a joke or didn’t intend for the statement to be heard by or received by his or her partner. However, if the accused is convicted, he or she faces either a misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in the county jail, up to $1,000 in fines and additional penalties, or a felony, punishable by up to one year in the state prison and the same additional penalties. Whether the crime is charged as a misdemeanor or a felony will depend on the circumstances that surrounded the alleged events.

In a case where the defendant is accused of stalking his or her intimate partner when there was a court order prohibiting such conduct against that same partner, there are two additional elements that require proof. The first is that the court previously issued an order forbidding any type of “stalking” behavior against the same intimate partner, and the second is that the order was in effect at the time of the charged incident. If the prosecutor can prove all five of these elements, the defendant faces a felony punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for at least two years, possibly up to four.

A stalking accusation is serious and a conviction carries severe penalties including prison, registration as a sex offender and a host of other mandatory probation requirements. A defendant charged with this crime faces irreparable damage to his or her reputation, family, friends and freedom. The GLBT supportive attorneys at the Kavinoky Law Firm have received extensive training and education with respect to same sex domestic violence cases and know the most effective ways to successfully defend their clients. They have law offices conveniently located in Los Angeles and throughout California, enabling them to provide their exceptional legal advice and services to anyone in need of a gay-friendly California domestic violence attorney. Contact them today for a free consultation and for unbeatable representation.