Pregnant Wife Incurred Battery Charges
My question involves criminal law for the state of: California
My pregnant wife(9 months) found herself in an altercation with a neighbor. Battery charges have been filed on both parties.
Our 60+ female neighbor walks her unleashed dog a good seventy feet in front of her daily in front of our apartment, which happens to be owned by my mother-in-law. This woman allows her dog to defecate wherever the dog wishes, usually directly in the grass in front of the property. On this particular day my wife witnessed said neighbor pick up the excrement with her hands. The excrement was on the step in front of the front gate. She then placed the excrement onto the grass about a foot away.
After witnessing this absurdity my wife grabbed a plastic bag, picked it up and then brought it over to our neighbors apartment. My wife heard a television blaring, and called through the screen door to get the neighbor attention. After a while the neighbor responded with, “Leave me alone, I’m watching my programs!” My wife asked her not to leave her dogs crap on the lawn in front of our apartment. She then left the bag with he excrement inside on the front stoop of this woman’s apartment. As she was then leaving, she heard the woman open and slam the door behind her and charge up on her screaming obscenities. The neighbor pushed my pregnant wife hard and continued to berate her. This is where it gets tricky. My wife stands by her claim that she did not push her. She has never done anything like that, so I believe her. The woman is claiming that my wife pushed/hit her.
My wife left the property and went home. The neighbor followed her and continued to scream the whole way. My wife got home and inside the gate( No lock on it, latch only). The woman entered the property and went past my wife up to our upstairs unit where she took the excrement out of the bag with her fingers and smashed and spread it across our front step. She then came back downstairs outside laughing hysterically and continued to scream obscenities at her. My mother-in-law was home and exited her front door, as did another neighbor next door. When the neighbor with the dog realized what she was doing and how it must have looked, she hightailed it out of the gated area and went home.
My wife then called the police. The police accused my wife of being the aggressor, which by law may be true considering she approached the neighbor’s apartment initially with a bag of excrement. Both were given battery charges. My mother-in-law felt like more should be done. She called the police dept. head in control(?) and wanted the woman brought up on charges of trespassing and defacement of her property. Which I believe she was. We don't know. We actually don't even know if this neighbor was given the same charges of 'Battery', we're assuming so and attempting to see the documents proving as much.
With a new child coming into our world I am hoping this will go away(charges dropped) as to not tarnish this first year. I have a feeling it will linger and get worse. Is it necessary for us to get a lawyer for this initial appearance(I imagine the answer is yes)? What is the expected fall out of this case? Will it be Simple Battery or Aggravated (Felony or Misdemeanor)? Is there any possibility of this case getting dropped if both parties agree to, and how do I go about approaching that idea to a crazy neighbor? I don’t think I should stop by, who knows how that would turn out. I’m wondering if it is even possible to drop this case considering that my wife was pregnant when the incident occurred(Something to do with protection of the unborn child?)? If this goes further will a lie detector test be brought on to determine if my wife actually did push back (I believe her completely when saying she didn't. I ask because I’m curious what kind of tactics may be used against her).
Please help! Any ideas or information would be greatly appreciated.
Re: Pregnant Wife Incurred Battery Charges
So rather than involve animal control, code enforcement, or other entities who enforce proper pet control and sanitation, your wife took it upon herself to confront the neighbor? Probably not the smart thing to do. There are lots of crazy people out there, and you never know which ones will respond as proper neighbors and talk out the problem, and which ones will just shoot you and your unborn child dead through the door, rather than get off the couch and miss their television programs. Happens every day.
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My mother-in-law felt like more should be done
Like what? Criminal charges ARE being pursued. Any "more" won't come until and unless any sentence is given out.
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called the police dept. head in control(?) and wanted the woman brought up on charges of trespassing
So it's ok for your wife to walk up to someone's door, but not ok for someone to walk up to your door? And you want them BOTH to face a trespassing charge? No. Unless a property is otherwise cut off from the public, such as by gating or signage, anyone can walk up to anyone else's door. Otherwise every Girl Scout in the country would be under arrest.
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and defacement of her property. Which I believe she was.
Yes, smearing of feces would generally fall under a charge of criminal vandalism.
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With a new child coming into our world I am hoping this will go away(charges dropped) as to not tarnish this first year
Only the DA knows if they are going to pursue the case. If they've got a strong case, they've no reason to drop it. More often than not, especially for a first offense, most look to do some sort of diversion, such as attending an anger management class in exchance for the dropped charge, or just a term of probation, where if a period of time goes by with no further incidents, they may drop the charge. These are the things her attorney can advise her on, as only your local criminal defense attorneys know what your local prosecutors typically do in similar cases and they are in the best position to advise what to expect.
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Is it necessary for us to get a lawyer for this initial appearance(I imagine the answer is yes)?
The earlier an attorney is brough on board, the better. However at first appearance, the court really only asks her to plead guilty or not guilty, so at that time she can plead "not guilty" and retain an attorney before any scheduled trial date.
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Will it be Simple Battery or Aggravated (Felony or Misdemeanor)?
Since there were no serious injuries or weapons, it should be simple misdemeanor battery.
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Is there any possibility of this case getting dropped if both parties agree to, and how do I go about approaching that idea to a crazy neighbor?
You don't. Stay AWAY from the crazy neighbor; not only for your own safety, but you don't want to potentially add a charge of intimidating a witness to the problem. Whether or not the case will move foward is entirely up to the DA. Negotiating with the DA is what your wife's attorney should be doing.
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I don’t think I should stop by, who knows how that would turn out.
See what I said above about people getting shot every day. Now that there has been ONE incident with this crazy neighbor, how do you think crazy neighbor is going to react seeing you or your wife walking up to the door? People do wacko things when they think someone's out to get them or hurt them, especially when there's an existing history between the two. No need to see exactly HOW crazy this neighbor might be. Stay as far from her as humanly possible.
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I’m wondering if it is even possible to drop this case considering that my wife was pregnant when the incident occurred(Something to do with protection of the unborn child?)?
Your wife being pregnant really isn't a factor here. If anything, being pregnant should have caused her to do anything BUT get confrontational with someone, over anything.
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If this goes further will a lie detector test be brought on to determine if my wife actually did push back (I believe her completely when saying she didn't.
No. Lie detector results aren't admissible.
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I ask because I’m curious what kind of tactics may be used against her
The DA will use everything from the 911 tape, to the testimony of the involved parties and any witnesses.
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Any ideas or information would be greatly appreciated
1) stay away from crazy neighbor
2) retain criminal defense attorney for wife
3) stay away from crazy neighbor
4 through 99) stay away from crazy neighbor
100) contact your city or county animal control and/or code enforcement and complain to people wearing uniforms and who can act with authority about the dog poop issue
101) stay away from crazy neighbor
Re: Pregnant Wife Incurred Battery Charges
Thank you aardvarc,
Your comments and advice are appreciated. I've explained to my wife and family that restraint is needed and heeded concerning further contact. Our buildings property is closed to public by a gate. The gate doesn't have a lock, but was latched. The neighbors property is off the street with no gate. Not sure that makes a difference?
again, greatly appreciated!