Domestic Violence (PC 243(e)(1)), Palos Verdes, DA Diversion
The following summary should be regarded as unusual and, for our client, extremely lucky, although the case certainly started with worse-than-normal facts.
Our client, age 56, had been married for 18 years. He and his wife had a son, age 14. The family lived in a townhome in Palos Verdes and their son attended school in the Palos Verdes School District.
The wife had worked at some point in her life, but stopped working and became an alcoholic. Her drinking caused her to sleep for extended periods of time and this put great stress on the family. Her husband, our client, often complained about her drinking and encouraged her to get treatment, which she ignored.
One day, she decided to stage a domestic violence incident as a pretext to divorce and, if her husband were convicted of domestic violence, she would prevail in child custody and spousal support.
As our client was working in his home office, she barged into the office while he was on an important conference call. She was drunk. She demanded a particularly expensive pen and began lecturing our client about how he was worthless.
Our client muted the call and handed her the pen. She was intent on lecturing him, but he could not indulge her in an argument as she wanted. He whispered to her to leave and quietly closed the door on her and returned to his conference call.
A few minutes later, the Lomita Sheriffs arrived at the family’s townhome and told our client he was under arrest for slamming a door in his wife’s face and pushing her.
Our client was shocked, as he was handcuffed and led to a police car. He was later taken to the Lomita Police Station and held on $50,000 bond for felony domestic violence. Luckily, his mom was able to post the bond and our client went home to her home, shocked at the turn of events.
The wife had, while our client was in jail, obtained an emergency protective order that barred our client from returning to the home.
The wife also retained a Torrance family law attorney and filed for divorce and child custody. She also filed for a permanent civil restraining order against our client, describing our client as verbally abusive and planning on taking hallucinogenic drugs.
The client called Greg Hill & Associates after firing another well-known criminal defense law firm he first hired. Greg listened to the client explain what had happened and described how a misdemeanor case proceeds, as Greg predicted the case would be filed as a misdemeanor, not a felony even though our client’s arrest and bail was for felony domestic violence.
Greg then appeared in the Torrance Superior Court and received the police report, which was surprisingly close to what our client had explained took place. It was apparent to Greg that the police were aware of the wife’s drinking, as the report described the wife as strongly smelling of alcohol (at 3:30 p.m. on a weekday) and when asked if she had been drinking, she denied drinking at all.
Greg then discussed the case facts with the Torrance District Attorney, who recognized this case as extraordinary because our client’s wife had written to the District Attorney’s office and submitted a demand for restitution already. This was unusual, particularly because the restitution demand included reimbursement for divorce attorney lawyer fees, mortgage payments and $20,000 in “miscellaneous expenses.” The District Attorney was taken aback by the aggressive nature of such a demand.
Greg had recommended that the client enroll in an approved batterers’ program class and start taking batterers classes to help with resolving the criminal case, although our client had not engaged in domestic violence. The client wisely did so and had completed four such classes prior to the arraignment.
Greg and the District Attorney discussed resolving the case for “DA Diversion,” as the District Attorney appreciated the context of the alleged domestic violence incident as a planned prelude to the then immediately filed divorce and child custody filing.
“DA Diversion,” however, required a no contest plea by defendant, which most defendants in domestic violence cases happily agreed to because they are simply so appreciative of avoiding a conviction for domestic violence and the myriad of consequences that follow.
Greg discussed this with the client’s divorce attorney, an experienced family law attorney in Torrance. He explained to Greg that such a plea, even without a later conviction, would disadvantage our client in the family law case because such a plea in the criminal case would create a rebuttable presumption in favor of the other spouse (our client’s wife) in favor of child support under California Family Code § 3044(d)(1) and in favor of spousal support under Family Code § 4320(2)(i). Such a plea would benefit our client’s wife, although our client would avoid a conviction.
Greg consequently asked the District Attorney for “Informal DA Diversion” without requiring our client to enter a no contest plea. Greg explained that the usual grounds for requiring such a plea first, i.e., the client would move to another state or not complete the terms of diversion, were not present in this case because our client owned property locally, his mom lived close, his son was enrolled in the local schools and our client worked nearby.
The District Attorney agreed, to Greg’s surprise. Our client was permitted “Informal DA Diversion” for one year with an obligation to attend 52 batterers program classes, perform 40 hours of community service and make a $500 “donation” to a domestic violence victim fund.
The client was very happy that Greg Hill, with help from the client’s divorce attorney, was able to help him avoid the problematic effects of a criminal case for domestic violence in a simultaneous divorce and child support proceeding.
We caution the reader of this summary that this result was both extraordinary and lucky, in part because of the transparent overreaching by our client’s wife.
Client Reviews
★★★★★
"Thank you so much for putting so much effort in this case. We really appreciate it and we are happy that all turned out well." S.A., Torrance
★★★★★
"Greg Hill did an outstanding job on every level. He was efficient, thorough, knowledgeable, courteous, responsive & brilliant. He welcomed my input and my concerns. . . from the first conversation to the last - I always felt 'it mattered' to him." S.C., Rolling Hills Estates
★★★★★
"Thanks again for your hard work. We want you to know that we are very appreciative of all that you have done [on our son's] behalf. With warmest regards." L.H., Torrance
★★★★★
"Dear Greg, Thank you again for all your help. Your professionalism and thoroughness is greatly admired. I will definitely recommend you to my friends if they ever need legal help." V.L., Carson
★★★★★
"Thanks for investing in my case. I talked to other attorneys out there and they had an arms-length of attitude, but not you. Your intensity and interest helped a lot." C.R., Pomona