What Types Of Defenses Can An Attorney Use If You Are Facing Charges In Riverside County Or Orange County For Assault On A Child 8 Years Old Or Under Resulting In Death (PC 273ab(a)?

Posted in Domestic Violence FAQ'S on May 12, 2015

Domestic Violence Defense Attorney In Riverside Or Orange County For Those Arrested On Assault On A Child 8 Years Old Or Under Resulting In Death (PC 273ab(a) Charges

First and foremost, a prosecutor must prove each and every element of their case beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury.

Typically, PC 273ab(a) defenses fall into one of six categories:

1. False Allegations: False allegations are common with Assault on a Child 8 Years Old or Under Resulting in Death charges. Sometimes the person making the false allegations does so because they are worried about their own responsibility for their own actions. Each case is different, and false allegations can often be attacked through conflicting evidence and proper cross examination of the witness.

2. Accident: The prosecutor has to prove that the Assault on a Child 8 Years Old or Under Resulting in Death was willful and unlawful. True accidents therefore wouldn’t qualify. However, before asserting an accident defense, it’s important to recognize that the accident has to be reasonable and believable to a jury.

Accident is limited as a defense also to those actions that were not intended at all. A good example of an accident would be opening a door and the door hitting someone on the other side that you did not know was there.

An example of a case where an “accident” defense would not work is if you threw a rock in the direction of a child to scare them but not intending to hit them.

If the rock hit the child causing death and throwing the rock was likely to cause great bodily harm, you would be technically guilty of Assault on a Child 8 Years Old or Under Resulting in Death.

3. Force Used Not Likely to Produce Great Bodily Injury: The prosecutor must prove that the force the defendant used was likely to produce great bodily injury. Therefore if the force used was NOT likely to produce great bodily injury, there may be a defense.

The phrase “likely to produce” great bodily harm or death means the probability of great bodily harm or death is high. Great bodily harm means significant or substantial physical injury. It is an injury that is greater than minor or moderate harm. If the probability of harm was low, and there was not a risk of substantial physical injury, there may be a defense.

Each case is different, and this defense depends heavily on the particular facts of your case.

4. The Defendant’s Act Did Not Cause Death: The prosecutor must prove that the defendant’s acts actually caused the death. Therefore if something other than the defendant’s acts caused the death, there may be a defense. An act “causes death” under PC 273ab(a) if:

• The death was the natural and probable consequence of the act
• The act was a direct and substantial factor in causing the death, and;
• The death would not have happened without the act.

If the child’s death was not a natural and probable consequence, or was not a direct or substantial factor in causing the death there is a defense: A natural and probable consequence is one that a reasonable person would know is likely to happen if nothing unusual intervenes.

Thus, if a reasonable person would not know that death could result from such actions, there may be a defense. This depends heavily on the particular facts and circumstances on your case.

5. The Defendant was Reasonably Disciplining a Child: The prosecutor must prove that the defendant did not act while reasonably disciplining a child. Therefore if the defendant’s acts were while disciplining a child, and that discipline was reasonable, there may be a defense. However, it’s important to recognize that the discipline has to be reasonable and believable to a jury.

6. The Defendant Did Not Have Care or Custody of the Child: The prosecutor must prove that the defendant had care or custody of the child when he or she acted. Therefore if the defendant was not caring for the child, or did not have custody for the child, this would be a defense.

If you, or a family member has been arrested for Assault on a Child 8 Years Old or Under Resulting in Death (PC 273ab(a)) in Riverside County or Orange County, call Criminal Defense Attorney Graham Donath at (951) 667-5293