Battery on a Peace Officer

The legislature recognizes that any willful and illegal contact with a police officer or any other protected individual should face harsher punishment than simple battery. Therefore, it established PEN 243(b) and PEN 243(c)(2), prohibiting battery on a peace officer performing official duty. If you are apprehended for these allegations, you want to know what the crime entails, the charge you will face, legal penalties, and the best defense strategies. At the Law Offices of Anna R. Yum, we will answer all your questions regarding the charges and defend you in court for a favorable outcome in San Diego County.

Battery Committed Against Peace Officers at a Glance

Sections 243(b) and 243(c) of the California Penal Code define enhanced penalties for peace officer battery. Per the section, making unlawful and intentional contact with a peace officer to offend or harm them when performing legal duties is criminal. Generally, the sections make it a misdemeanor offense to illegally and deliberately make contact with an officer offensively. However, when the conduct is offensive and harmful, and the victim obtains injuries requiring medical treatment, the offense is a wobbler.

The DA will secure a conviction if they can prove:

• The victim of your battery offense was a peace officer performing official duties
• You, the defendant, knowingly and unlawfully made offensive, angry, or harmful contact with the officer
• When you engaged in the conduct, you knew or ought to have known the victimized party was a peace officer performing official roles.

Key Terms and Phrases Definition

The elements of the violent crime that the prosecutor must prove for a guilty verdict comprise the legal definition of the peace officer battery. So, you will comprehend the crime if you understand the phrases used in the definition.

Peace Officer or Protected Official Meaning

Per PEN 243, a peace official is any law enforcer working for a law enforcement entity. They include:

• Harbor police
• Police officers
• Transit police
• Highway patrol officers
• Police working in the sheriff’s department

The list does not stop here. PEN 243 also encompasses public officials and experts who are not involved in law enforcement but belong to the class of protected individuals. These are:

• Lifeguards
• Emergency medical technicians (EMTS)
• Nurses and doctors providing emergency medical assistance
• Custodial officers
• Workers in the probation department
• Officials involved in search and rescue
• Code enforcers
• Traffic officers
• Animal control officials
• Custodial officers
• Firefighters

Performing Official Duties

PEN 243(b) and PEN 243(c)(2) require the battery offense to be committed against an official when they are engaged in official roles. For instance, a traffic officer, Jane, stops Peter for a traffic violation. Jane issues Peter a ticket, but this does not go down well, as Peter shoves and hits her. Under the circumstances, Peter can be charged with battery against a law enforcer. However, if the argument between the two broke out in a bar while Jane was off duty, Peter’s shoving and hitting her amounts to simple battery and can be charged under PEN 242.

Harmful or Offensive Contact of Touching

Any offensive, violent, rude, or angry physical contact is deemed offensive or injurious, even when slight. Mere bodily contact. The victim does not have to experience pain or harm for the actions to amount to battery. A slap or shove qualifies as offensive.

Besides, any indirect physical touch using an object with a peace officer is offensive and will result in a battery charge against a law enforcer or protected party.

You Acted Knowingly or Willfully

Acting willfully means you intentionally or deliberately made physical contact with the peace officer. You are guilty even if you did not plan to break the law, gain an advantage, or inflict injuries when you engaged in the act. For instance, you are arguing with a traffic officer after a stop. You become frustrated after being issued a traffic ticket, throwing an object in your hand on the ground, but it hits the officer. Under the circumstances, you are guilty of battery of a traffic officer because you threw the object to the ground willfully or on purpose.

You Knew or Should Have Reasonably Been Aware that the Victim is a Protected Party or Peace Officer

You can only be convicted of peace officer battery if you knew or should have reasonably known that the individual was protected or a law enforcer based on their uniform or clothes that give them the status. Also, if the officer told you their official status, it is proof of knowledge. Driving a well-marked car like a police vehicle should reasonably inform you that the person is an officer, meaning you can face misdemeanor or felony charges.

Peace Officer Battery Penalties

Typically, contravening these sections of the law is a misdemeanor. A conviction for the charges carries misdemeanor penalties, including:

• Misdemeanor probation
• At most twelve months of county jail confinement
• Monetary court fines not exceeding $2,000

However, when your victim sustains injuries that require medical treatment, it becomes a wobbler offense under PEN 243(c), meaning the DA can prefer misdemeanor or felony charges depending on your case’s unique circumstances and your criminal record.

A misdemeanor conviction will attract $2,000 in monetary court fines and no more than twelve months in jail. On the other hand, the penalties for a felony sentence are:

• 16, 24, or 36 months of jail confinement per California realignment
• At most $10,000 in monetary court fines
• Formal probation

You face felony charges if the protected official or law enforcer sustains injuries requiring medical attention after the battery incident. Still, the decision depends on the case’s circumstances, as the prosecutor has the option to charge the offense as a misdemeanor if the injuries did not require medical attention.

An injury is any physical harm requiring medical attention from a professional’s perspective. However, the need for medical treatment does not mean that the victim must have sought treatment or that the injuries occurred because the victim unnecessarily sought treatment. Even if the battered official seeks medical treatment, but a medical professional deems it unnecessary, the offense will remain a misdemeanor. The court considers the opinion of a medical professional on whether the injuries needed treatment. Therefore, even if the battered official did not seek treatment, it does not mean the injuries suffered were not severe, and that you will not face felony charges.

Legal Defenses for Battery Against a Protected Official or Law Enforcer

You do not want to face charges for battery against a law enforcer, let alone be sentenced for the offense. Contesting a battery charge with the help of an experienced violent crimes attorney is not as overwhelming or devastating as fighting the charges alone. A reliable private attorney will evaluate your case to find weaknesses in the prosecutor’s evidence and use it to craft strong defense strategies. The legal defenses to fight the charges are:

1. Your Conduct was Not Willful

You are guilty of a PEN 243 violation if your actions were willful. Therefore, you can defend yourself by asserting that your actions were not deliberate or on purpose. You are innocent if you did not intend to touch the officer or did so accidentally. Whether the defense will work depends on your case’s circumstances. The defense strategy will work if you are alleged to have battered a law enforcer while being taken into custody after arrest for a different offense. You can claim that you were uncomfortable in the police car or the handcuffs. In an attempt to change your position, you accidentally made physical contact with the law enforcer, which they misconstrued as offensive or rude.

2. The Law Enforcer or Protected Party Was Not on Official Duty

A conviction only happens if the officer you are alleged to have battered was performing official duties or doing private work and official duty concurrently. So, if the official was not performing their official mandate, you can argue that they were not on duty. Besides, when the officer was engaging in illegal activity like unlawful racial profiling, an illegal search and seizure, police brutality, or an illegal arrest, the court will not consider them to be engaging in official duties, meaning battering an officer under these circumstances will not attract penalties under PEN 243.

3. Lack of Knowledge

Another element of the crime the prosecutor must prove is knowledge that the person you offensively or unlawfully touched was a protected official or law enforcer. So, if you did not know or could not have known the person is a law enforcer, you are innocent of peace officer battery, although you can face charges for simple battery.

4. You were Defending Yourself or Another Individual

Also, you can assert you were defending yourself or someone else against police cruelty or misconduct. You are not guilty of peace officer battery if you inflict harm or offensively touch a law enforcer while defending yourself or others from imminent harm. However, you can only utilize this defense if, when you battered the law enforcer:

• You reasonably and justifiably thought that you or another party was in imminent danger of harm or illegal touching
• You sensibly believed that it was necessary to use force to repel the threat of physical injury against the law enforcer in defense of yourself or someone else.
• You used reasonable and proportionate force to repel the threat

If you used excessive force to repel the officer’s threat, you cannot use self-defense as a valid defense strategy. Also, provocative words from the officer should not be sufficient to trigger the use of force. You can only utilize this defense when you reasonably believe the risk of harm or rude touching is imminent or immediate.

For instance, Paul drives home from work when a traffic officer pulls him over without probable cause. The officer asks him to step out of the vehicle, but when Paul demands to know the reason for the stop, the officer does not respond. Instead, the officer yanks the door and drags Paul out of the vehicle. Paul shoves the officer to protect himself from harm, but unfortunately, the officer slips and falls. Even if the officer arrests Paul for battery against a law enforcer, the court will find him innocent because the alleged offense happened in self-defense.

5. You are Falsely Accused

The alleged victim does not need to sustain visible injuries for a battery charge to apply. Offensive or rude touching is sufficient to file charges and possibly secure a conviction, depending on the case’s facts. Therefore, without physical evidence, the court relies on the accuser’s words against the defendant’s. In these situations, the defendant can exaggerate the events that transpired, leading to false charges. Sadly, you could have a wrongful conviction if you do not fight the false accusations aggressively.

It is not unheard of for law enforcers to exaggerate situations or charges. Therefore, your attorney can argue that the accusations are false or exaggerated by sharing the events that transpired to disprove the exaggerated version.

Crimes Associated With Peace Officer Battery

The crimes associated with or charged with or in place of battery against a protected official or law enforcer are:

Resisting Arrest

PEN 148(a)(1) makes it a misdemeanor violation to purposely obstruct, delay, or resist a law enforcer or EMT when engaging in official duties. The elements of the crime that the prosecutor must prove when you face these charges are:

• You resisted or obstructed a law enforcer or EMT
• When you acted, the EMT or peace officer was engaged in official mandates
• You knew or should have known the official was on duty
• Your actions were willful or intentional

It is easy to face these charges and a possible guilty verdict because, like battery against a peace officer, the offense does not require the prosecutor to show you had motives to break the law, to take advantage of, or hurt the official.

You risk resisting arrest charges if you engage in a struggle with a law enforcer when they are attempting to handcuff you. Other conduct that amounts to resisting arrest are:

• Impeding a law enforcer travelling to an accident or crime scene
• Obstructing law enforcers from cross-examining witnesses
• Obstructing officers when they are actively surveilling a suspect

Resisting arrest is associated with peace officer battery. Arrests can be overwhelming, making you jittery and clumsy. In the process, you could touch an officer, and the contact could be misconstrued as offensive or rude, leading to peace officer battery charges, which is a serious offense. The DA will file resisting arrest and PEN 243 violation charges. These charges are severe; you do not want to risk a guilty verdict by depending on a public defender. You should hire an attorney to help contest the charges to reduce or prevent the penalties.

Resisting arrest is a misdemeanor that attracts at most twelve months of jail incarceration and court fines of no more than $1,000. The court could also grant you misdemeanor probation instead of jail incarceration, but with the conditions that you will undergo community service and counseling.

Although these legal penalties seem less severe than committing a battery offense against a law enforcer or protected party, they can have devastating collateral consequences because of the criminal record. Therefore, you need a competent attorney to help you fight the charges and prevent a conviction.

Resisting An Executive Officer

California PEN 69 criminalizes the use of physical force or violence to deter an executive official from performing lawful duties. An executive officer is a government employee who uses their discretion in performing their duties. The offense is closely related to battery against a protected party because it involves harmful physical contact against a person in authority. The only difference is that the executive is not a protected official or peace officer.

When prosecuting a PEN 69 violation charge, the DA must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that:

• You willfully and illegally use physical force or threats of physical violence to deter an executive from performing their duties
• You acted intentionally
• You were aware the officer was engaged in official duties

A PEN 69 violation is a wobbler, allowing the prosecutor to file it as a felony or misdemeanor depending on your criminal record and the case’s facts. A misdemeanor conviction attracts:

• Summary probation
• No more than $10,000 in court fines
• At most twelve months of jail confinement

A felony sentence carries:

• Felony probation
• 16, 24, or 36 months of incarceration
• $10,000 in financial court fines

Simple Battery

PEN 242 defines a simple battery as the unlawful and deliberate use of physical violence against someone else, even if the individual does not experience pain or harm. The DA will convict you of this offense if they can demonstrate that:

• You touched another person on purpose and illegally
• The touch was rude, harmful, or offensive
• You were not defending yourself or another person

The definition of simple battery is almost the same as that of peace officer battery. The only difference between the two crimes is that simple battery involves battery offenses committed against any individuals. In contrast, the battery of a peace officer focuses only on law enforcers or protected parties engaged in lawful duties.

The DA will charge you with simple battery if your battery offense was against a peace officer who was off duty. Also, if you hit a protected official but they were performing unlawful duties or were off duty, you will face simple battery charges under PEN 242 instead of PEN 243(b) and 243(c). Again, if the prosecutor has weak or no proof that you knew that the person you battered is a law enforcer on duty, they will reduce your charges to simple battery, which is a lesser offense. However, you require an experienced attorney to represent you in the negotiations for a favorable deal.

When a PEN 242 violation does not involve injuries and the victim is not a protected official or law enforcer, it is a misdemeanor. A guilty verdict for the offense carries:

• At most six months in jail
• No more than $2,000 in monetary court fines

The judge can also grant misdemeanor probation with probationary terms like counseling and community labor, although this depends on the case’s facts.

However, when the battery is against a law enforcer or protected official, the crime becomes battery against a peace officer, which is a wobbler.

Civil Lawsuits After Battery Committed Against a Peace Officer

The law enforcer or protected official you are accused of touching angrily or rudely can seek compensation for losses from the battery offense, even before the charges or a conviction in a trial.

The evidentiary standard in civil lawsuits is lower than that of criminal cases. In the civil case, the plaintiff only demonstrates with a preponderance of the evidence that a battery offense. This means they only show it is more likely or probable that you battered the said victim. The plaintiff will receive compensatory damages if they show it is more probable that:

• You offensively or harmfully touched them
• The plaintiff did not consent to your physical contact
• The officer was harmed or offended by the touch
• A sober individual under the plaintiff’s circumstances would have been offended

Record Expungement

Expungement or expunction refers to the withdrawal of guilty verdicts or no contest pleas, entering an innocent plea, or marking a conviction record as dismissed. It does not mean destruction of documents. Instead, it means sealing them from the public record and requiring court orders to open them under unique circumstances.

You can file for expunction after a conviction for peace officer battery if:

• You successfully finished your probationary term
• You are not presently serving probation, a sentence, or charged with another violation

Probation completion means:

• You complied with all probationary terms
• Showed up for all the arranged court proceedings
• Did not contravene the law while on probation

Typically, you, your lawyer, or your probation officer submits your expunction petition. If the court grants the petition, it will overturn the no contest or guilty plea and enter a not guilty plea. If you have been found guilty, the court dismisses the conviction.

When your record is expunged, it releases you from all limitations and disabilities stemming from the conviction.

Find an Experienced Violent Crimes Attorney Near Me

A violation of PEN 243(b) and 243(c)(2) carries severe penalties upon sentencing in San Diego County. The battery offence attracts severe penalties than those committed against civilians. Therefore, you must consult an experienced violent crimes attorney when you face the charges. At the Law Offices of Anna R. Yum, we understand the complexity of contesting these charges, which is why we are here to defend you and improve your chances of a fair outcome. Call us at 619-493-3461 to evaluate your case.