Prosecution Of Corporal Injury On A Child
California Corporal Injury on a Child Prosecution - Penal Code section 273d
To prove that the defendant is guilty of the crime of corporal injury on a child in California, the prosecution must prove that:
- The defendant willfully inflicted cruel or inhuman physical punishment and/or an injury on a child; and
- The punishment and/or injury inflicted by the defendant caused a traumatic physical condition to the child.
The law defines a traumatic physical condition as a wound or other bodily injury, whether minor or serious, caused by the direct application of physical force. A punishment or injury caused a traumatic physical condition if:
- The traumatic condition was the natural and probable consequence of the punishment or injury;
- A natural and probable consequence is one that a reasonable person would know is likely to happen if nothing unusual intervenes.
- The punishment or injury was a direct and substantial factor in causing the condition; and
- A substantial factor is more than a trivial or remote factor. However, it does not need to be the only factor that caused the traumatic condition.
- The condition would not have happened without the punishment or injury.
