What is “corporal injury”? All you need to know

In criminal law, the term corporal injury refers to any physical injury that causes a traumatic condition. This typically means a visible or verifiable injury, whether slight or severe

The existence of a corporal injury can be an element of a violent crime such as

assault or
battery.

Physical harm to a spouse or cohabitant is a component of domestic abuse in California (Penal Code 273.5 PC). The offense is more serious than a straightforward domestic battery because there was physical harm inflicted.

The majority of states have updated their criminal and civil codes to eliminate dated and ambiguous terms like "corporal injury." The state of California has some of the few domestic violence statutes remaining in the nation.

Corporal Injury Defined

A bodily harm caused by force is known as a corporal injury.

There is no difference in the force applied. Furthermore, it makes no difference if a weapon, including a handgun, was used to apply the force. Whether the force resulted in a mild or serious physical injury is irrelevant. What counts is that the victim's body sustained some form of severe injury as a result of the force.

Examples of a corporal injury can include:

a broken bone,
a bullet wound,
a ligament sprain or a strained muscle,
a bruise,
a cut or a laceration,
internal bleeding, or
a concussion.

Examples do not include:

post-traumatic stress from the violence,
emotional distress,
property damage,
financial losses, or
physical contact that did not leave a mark or cause any physical internal injuries.

Examples in Criminal Law

The term "corporal injury" is still used in very few states' assault laws in the United States.

Rhode Island is among the few that still does. The definitions of simple assault and battery are not provided by their statute.1.

Rather, common law definitions of simple assault and battery are derived from courts that formulate practical guidelines to bridge the gaps left by ambiguous laws. The state's common law definition of an assault is

“a physical act of a threatening nature or an offer of corporal injury” which puts a reasonable person in imminent fear of bodily harm..

Many states have amended their criminal codes to exclude outdated terms like "corporal injury" and substitute more specific components of the offense.

Among these states is Oregon. Similar to Rhode Island, the definition of "assault" under Oregon's criminal statutes that forbade it was derived from common law principles. "An act which reasonably puts one in fear of corporal injury" was what this was in 1959.3.

Since then, further assault-related laws have been passed by Oregon's legislature. "Cororal injuries" is no longer used in these statutes to differentiate between different assault offenses. Rather, the laws make use of:

physical injuries,
serious physical injuries,
physical injuries by means of a deadly weapon, and
serious physical injuries by means of a deadly weapon

Personal Injury Cases

A few more states use “corporal injury” as an element for a civil lawsuit for compensation after an assault or battery.

Florida and Michigan are 2 of these states. Both define civil assault as including an unlawful offer of corporal injury by force.5

The Law in California

In California, the infliction of corporal injuries on a spouse or cohabitant is a crime under California Penal Code Section 273.5 (PC 273.5). It is more severe than domestic battery under Penal Code 243(e)(1).

Under this California law, a corporal injury is any physical injury that led to a traumatic condition if:
the traumatic condition was the natural and probable consequence of the physical injury,
the injury was a direct and substantial factor in causing the traumatic condition, and
the traumatic condition would have happened without the injury.

A traumatic condition is any type of bodily injury, no matter how severe, that was directly caused by physical force. It also includes injuries caused by

strangulation or
suffocation.

Defendants who cause a corporal injury to any of the following alleged victims can be charged under PC 273.5:

the defendant’s spouse or former spouse,
the defendant’s cohabitant or former cohabitant,
the defendant’s fiancé,
anyone with whom the defendant has had a dating relationship, or
the parent of your child.

These criminal charges are wobblers. If pursued as a misdemeanor, they carry:

up to 1 year of jail time in county jail, and/or
up to $6,000 in fines.

If prosecuted as a felony, the potential penalties of a conviction will be:

2, 3, or 4 years in state prison, and/or
up to $6,000 in fines.

This is significantly more severe than if the violence did not cause a corporal injury. The charge would be for spousal or domestic battery under PC 243 in those cases. This offense prohibits the willful use of unlawful force or violence on an intimate partner.

Spousal battery is always a misdemeanor. Convictions carry:

up to 1 year in county jail, and/or
up to $2,000 in fines.

If there is a prior conviction for domestic abuse on the defendant’s criminal history, especially if it was for a prior domestic violence case, it can lead to sentencing enhancements.

Additionally, domestic violence offenses can lead to the following legal problems:

restraining orders or a protective order,
child custody difficulties,
the stigmatization of being a batterer, and
potential repercussions under California’s “three strikes” law.

Legal Defenses

Defendants who have been accused of inflicting corporal injury on someone else can raise legal defenses to combat the criminal charge. Some of the most common defense strategies include:

self-defense,
defense of someone else, like a child, or
the victim is making false accusations.

A skilled criminal defense attorney from a local law office or law firm can help defendants raise these defendants and try for an acquittal.

Additionally, a criminal defense lawyer can fight domestic violence charges by presenting evidence that can prevent the prosecutor from proving his or her case beyond a reasonable doubt. They can also aim to mitigate the penalties of a conviction by: