California Penal Code 273.5: Penalties, Defenses, and Expungement

California Penal Code 273.5 makes it a crime to willfully inflict a physical injury on a current or former spouse, cohabitant, dating partner, or the other parent of your child. It’s a wobbler, which means prosecutors can file it as either a misdemeanor or a felony. A misdemeanor conviction carries up to one year in county jail and a fine up to $6,000. A first-offense felony carries two, three, or four years in state prison and the same $6,000 fine ceiling.¹

What the Prosecution Has to Prove

Three elements. The defendant committed a willful physical act against the victim. That act caused a “traumatic condition.” And the victim falls within one of the statute’s protected relationships.¹

“Willfully” refers to the act, not the result. If you shove your partner and they fall and bruise, the shove was intentional even if the bruise wasn’t. That’s enough. A genuine accident, like tripping into someone, is not.

A traumatic condition is any wound or bodily injury, internal or external, caused by physical force. The statute specifically includes strangulation and suffocation, defined as restricting breathing or blood flow by pressure to the throat or neck. The injury does not have to be serious. A scratch, a bruise, or minor swelling all qualify, and it doesn’t need to be visible when police arrive. This low threshold is what separates 273.5 from simple domestic battery, which requires no injury at all.¹

Who Counts as a Protected Partner

The statute only reaches specific relationships:

Current or former spouses
Current or former cohabitants who lived together as intimate partners, even without holding themselves out as married
A parent of the defendant’s child, whether or not the couple ever lived together or married
Current or former dating or engagement partners

If the victim isn’t in one of these categories, the same conduct gets charged under a different statute, typically simple assault or battery.¹

Penalties for a First Offense

The wobbler structure gives prosecutors real discretion.

Misdemeanor: up to one year in county jail, a fine up to $6,000, or both
Felony: two, three, or four years in state prison, a fine up to $6,000, or both

Prosecutors weigh the severity of the injury, the circumstances, and any prior record. A minor bruise with no history often files as a misdemeanor. Visible injuries or evidence of repeated abuse push toward the felony side.¹

When Penalties Get Worse

A prior conviction within the past seven years for corporal injury to a spouse, sexual battery, assault with a deadly weapon, assault with caustic chemicals, or assault with a stun gun raises the felony range to two, four, or five years in state prison and doubles the maximum fine to $10,000. A prior domestic battery conviction under Penal Code 243(e) within seven years also triggers the $10,000 fine, though the prison range stays at two, three, or four years.¹

When a felony 273.5 involves great bodily injury, the court adds a consecutive prison term of three, four, or five years on top of the base sentence. Great bodily injury means significant harm beyond a minor or moderate wound: broken bones, concussions requiring hospitalization, injuries needing surgery. Stacked on the base felony, the total can run well past the four-year figure many defendants expect.²

If the Judge Grants Probation

Probation on a 273.5 case is not light. The minimum term is 36 months. The court must issue a criminal protective order shielding the victim from further violence, threats, stalking, and harassment.³

The defendant must complete a batterer’s intervention program lasting at least a year, finished within 18 months, with only three excused absences allowed. There’s a mandatory $500 fee, community service, and the court can order a payment of up to $5,000 to a domestic violence shelter plus reimbursement to the victim for expenses caused by the offense.³

Firearm Consequences

This is the consequence defendants overlook most, and it’s harsher than the norm.

Under California law, a misdemeanor conviction for Penal Code 273.5 triggers a lifetime ban on owning, purchasing, or possessing firearms. Most California misdemeanors carry a ten-year firearm restriction; the legislature removed the time limit for 273.5 in 2019, so the ban has no expiration.⁴

Federal law layers on top. Under 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(9), anyone convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence is permanently prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition anywhere in the United States. Violating that ban is a separate federal felony, and the federal restriction applies regardless of anything state law might later do to restore rights.⁵

Immigration Consequences

For non-citizens, a conviction under 273.5 can trigger removal. Federal immigration law classifies domestic violence as a deportable offense for any non-citizen who has been admitted, and that includes green card holders and visa holders alike. Even a misdemeanor can be enough. Violating a protective order in a domestic violence case is independently deportable.⁶

Because of this, immigration exposure often drives plea negotiations. An attorney working both sides may try to negotiate a plea to a non-deportable offense such as disturbing the peace, though whether that’s on the table depends on the facts and the prosecutor.

How It Differs From Domestic Battery

The charge most often confused with 273.5 is Penal Code 243(e)(1), California’s domestic battery statute. The key difference: 243(e)(1) requires no injury at all. Any willful use of force or violence against an intimate partner qualifies, even if the victim has no marks.⁷

Domestic battery is always a misdemeanor, capped at one year in county jail and a $2,000 fine. Compared to 273.5’s wobbler status and $6,000 fine ceiling, that’s a meaningful gap. Defense attorneys sometimes negotiate a reduction from 273.5 to 243(e)(1) as part of a plea. Either way, probation still requires completion of a batterer’s intervention program.⁷

Common Defenses

Self-Defense

You can use reasonable force to protect yourself from imminent bodily harm. Three elements have to line up: you reasonably believed you were in immediate danger of injury, you reasonably believed force was necessary right then, and you used no more force than the situation required. Shoving back after being attacked can support the defense. Punching in response to a verbal argument generally does not.

Accident

Because the statute requires a willful act, accidents are a complete defense. If two people are arguing and one stumbles into the other, causing a bruise, the willfulness element fails. The line is whether the physical contact itself was intentional, not whether the specific injury was foreseen.

False Accusations

False allegations surface regularly, particularly in custody fights and contested separations. The defense may present evidence that injuries were self-inflicted or came from another source, that the accuser has a motive to fabricate, or that the timeline contradicts the account. Physical evidence tends to decide these cases, and inconsistencies matter.

Expungement After the Case Closes

California allows a person convicted under 273.5 to petition for expungement after successfully completing probation. Under Penal Code 1203.4, the court can permit you to withdraw your guilty plea, enter a not-guilty plea, and dismiss the case. Relief is available once you’ve finished probation and are not currently serving a sentence, on probation, or facing new charges.⁸

Expungement has real limits. A criminal protective order stays in force until it expires or a court modifies it. The federal firearm ban under 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(9) is not affected. California’s own lifetime firearm prohibition for a 273.5 misdemeanor also continues to apply. What expungement does help with is employment background checks and professional licensing, and for many people that’s the point.⁸

1
California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 273.5
2
California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 12022.7
3
California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 1203.097
4
California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 29805
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1227 – Deportable Aliens
7
California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 243
8
California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 1203.4