My question involves criminal law for the state of: California
I'll try and give a short version of this story. One night my gf and I (after both drinking a bit) got into an argument because she once again thought I was cheating/doing something behind her back, words were thrown back and forth and eventually I pulled her out of my car when I drove her back home because it was going nowhere and I simply wanted her to go home.
She began punching/beating the top of my car to the point where there are dents in it, I had pushed away at her arms telling her to stop. She pulled at my shirt, breaking off 2 of the buttons and slapped me in the face at some point. At this point I sort of lost it and grabbed her and we both fell to the ground with me ending up on top. She ran to the neighbors who had just stepped outside and told them to call the police and I was taken in.
I was able to leave city jail on my own recognizance, on the condition that I attend a few DV classes (at least 2 before my 1st pretrial which was a few weeks back) and abide by a Restraining Order.
To my knowledge, the gf is not pressing charges, does not intend to show up to court to testify and didn't want the RO in place but I understand that it matters little because the DA is the one who will pursue this case.
My pretrial was pushed to another date which is coming up in 2 days, because my public defender requested time to review evidence submitted by the prosecution (photos taken that night) and I am just wondering what the best to expect of this situation would be. I have a public defender on this case because I am a recent college graduate and can't afford a high end attorney.
This gf HAS struck me physically on 2 occasions (once to a point where i was bleeding from the face from scratches) before where I never laid a finger on her, but the only witnesses in both cases are HER best friends.
Cops took photos that night of both of us, she had scuffs and scratches on her toes (open toe shoes) and hands, as well as my face which had a scratch and a scrape.
My public defender stated that she will be fighting to say that this was a case of mutual combat.
I have been attending the DV classes ever since mid November despite not having been ordered to do 52 weeks, because I felt that it would only help my case, as well as for the fact that the counseling center would close my case if i just decided to stop showing up.
I have no priors on my record, am a college grad with a BFA in graphic design, freelancing for motion studios in california, if any of that matters.
Thanks for reading this far, I just wanted to get any/all input because it has been difficult getting a hold of my public defender (backed up with tons of cases i'm guessing) and I don't really have a good grasp on what to expect/do moving forward.

