By Nic Cocis, Criminal Defense Attorney — California State Bar member since 1999. Last reviewed September 2026. If you were in a fight — a bar, a parking lot, a family gathering, a road-rage stop — and you are now looking at criminal complaint, the section number on it matters more than what happened. The…
Road rage is not a crime you can be charged with by name. There is no Penal Code section called “road rage” — it is the label police, prosecutors, and news reports put on a traffic dispute that escalated, and the actual charges that follow can range from a traffic infraction to a violent felony…
It happens more often than people expect: you defend yourself or your family from someone who attacked first — and you are the one who ends up arrested. It is one of the most frustrating positions to be in, and one of the most defensible, because in California self-defense is not a technicality. It is…
The phrase “assault causing bodily injury” is widely used at the street and search-engine level, but in California criminal law it conflates two distinct offenses. The statute most commonly charged when someone is alleged to have caused serious physical injury to another person during a fight, altercation, or domestic incident is Penal Code § 243(d)…
If you’ve been charged with assault, battery, or both, the first thing to understand is that they are two completely separate crimes under California law — not two names for the same thing, and not always charged together. Assault under Penal Code § 240 is the attempt. Battery under Penal Code § 242 is the…
When prosecutors charge someone with assault using a weapon — or with force strong enough to cause serious injury, even without a weapon — the case is filed under California Penal Code § 245, not under the basic assault statute that covers bar fights and shoving matches. PC § 245 is sometimes called “aggravated assault”…
In a recently published decision, a California Court of Appeal decided that a judge may consider a Probation Officer’s report when deciding whether to reduce a felony charge to a misdemeanor. Case Name: People v. TranOpinion Date: 12/1/2015 Trial court may properly consider the facts set forth in a probation report that the defendant had…
The words assault and battery get thrown around all the time when people talk about fights using legal terms. Between cop dramas on TV and crime thrillers on the bestseller lists it can be hard to tell the difference between these two crimes. If you’re involved in a battery case, though, it is extremely important…
Battery is a crime that frequently makes the news. For instance, in California, one recent case being reported in national news involves the alleged hate crimes and battery perpetrated by three college students against their African-American roommate. But while it’s common to see reports of battery, and to often see it as one of multiple…
Did you know that you can be charged with domestic violence when making even the slightest physical contact with the other individual? For example, pursuant to Penal Code section 243(e)(1), a person can be arrested for domestic violence if he or she made a “offensive” contact with a person with whom he or she was…
Riverside Police are looking for suspects in connection with what they described as the “intentional” hit-and-run killing of a 62-year-old Riverside man. As we see it, this story presents a good chance to discuss why it is important that alleged crimes fit the circumstances. The man was struck around 6:30 a.m. Sept. 14 as he…
Felony assault is one of the more serious charges that can be filed against an individual. But the term “assault” is a little broad in terms of the types of charges that can be filed. It can further be defined into two loose categories: Battery is defined as a destructive act of aggressive damage, done…
If you or a loved one is facing criminal charges in Southwest Riverside County, time is critical. Contact the Law Office of Nic Cocis today for a free, no-obligation case evaluation.
