Domestic Violence

According to California law, domestic violence occurs when one person inflicts an injury upon someone who was a spouse, someone he or she lives with, a significant other, or the other parent of his or her child.

Domestic violence requires some sort of close interpersonal relationship, whether it is familial or dating. Anytime there is a family member, boyfriend, girlfriend, or child involved, the situation normally falls under the overall umbrella of domestic violence. Essentially, domestic violence involves confrontation and violence between loved ones.

If the police are called to a domestic situation in Los Angeles, the reality is that someone is likely going to jail. In most cases, it is the person whom the complaint was about, and who is being accused of domestic violence. Oftentimes, that ends up being the male, but in some cases it is the female who is accused and arrested. Police officers are trained to calm the parties, confirm any injuries, and arrest the person who is accused if so.

Do not underestimate the serious nature of domestic violence charges. California law treats these situations very seriously. Domestic violence would probably be considered one of the more serious crimes that somebody could be charged with.

In addition to jail time, fines and classes that may come with a conviction, there is also a social stigma that can be attached to an arrest or conviction for domestic violence. Of course, since it involves your home situation, you may also face domestic consequences such as divorce, custody disputes and other related problems.

The Law Office of Param S. Pabla, has pursued a number of defenses for those accused of domestic violence, based on the facts of each particular case. Most commonly, Mr. Pabla finds that the accused was actually just attempting to defend themselves. A thorough investigation sometimes uncovers that the alleged victim was actually the initial aggressor, and the client was just trying to defend himself or herself.

This defense often relies on witness testimony, including neighbors who saw or heard what was happening. Other defenses may be possible based on this testimony, as well as what each party told the police and other documentation of the incident. No matter the specific circumstance of a domestic violence accusation, there is always a great deal of in-depth investigation that needs to happen in order to arrive at the truth.

In one particular example, Defense Attorney Pabla represented an individual who was a parolee, meaning that he was under parole supervision. He and his girlfriend — the mother of his child — were arguing and she claimed that he hit her.

She, however, did not call the police. Instead, she called his parole agent. The parole agent arrived, and arrested the man for possible domestic violence. Because he was already on parole, the man faced as much as a year in prison.

The man enlisted help from Pabla, and together they were able to identify several witnesses who may have seen, heard or talked to the alleged victim. Once these witnesses were interviewed, the real story emerged. She was angry at the client, and vindictively falsely accused him of domestic violence. A witness heard her say “Well, if that’s the case, then watch me go ahead and get you arrested and I’m going to call your parole agent and tell him that you hit me and you are going to go away for a while.”

With the witness’s account of the events, her accusations were completely discredited. In fact, the parole agent was even in agreement. At the hearing, the agent asked the court to dismiss the charge, and the client was freed.

Mr. Pabla has more than a decade of experience handling domestic violence cases. He is skilled at dissecting a situation to understand what type of investigation is necessary in each case. He can then aggressively seek out the truth to determine exactly what happened during the incident. This allows him to build the strongest possible defense for clients. Once this defense is built and the evidence is collected, the goal for Law Office of Param S. Pabla is usually to try to get the charge dismissed.

If you’ve been charged with domestic violence in Sacramento, call us at (916) 285-7900.