California Criminal Defense Blog

There are essentially three levels of injury that are addressed under California’s battery laws: minor injury, serious bodily injury, and great bodily injury.

If you are convicted of Penal Code 242 PC battery…and you caused the alleged victim to suffer a minor or moderate injury (or even no injury at all)…you face a misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in a county jail.

If you are convicted of Penal Code 243(d) PC California’s “battery causing serious bodily injury” law, you face up to four years in the California State Prison. Under Penal Code 243(d) PC California’s “battery causing serious bodily injury” law, a “serious bodily injury” is one that causes a serious impairment to one’s physical condition. There is no specific injury that necessarily qualifies as a serious bodily injury; it’s simply something that is determined on a case-by-case basis.

If you are convicted of a battery that causes a great bodily injury, you face a three to six-year state prison sentence in addition and consecutive to the penalty you face for the underlying battery. A “great bodily injury” is a significant or substantial physical injury. And again, what qualifies as a great bodily injury is determined on a case-by-case basis.

The problem is that the same injury could essentially be found to be moderate, serious, or great, depending on the mood of the jury. And the resulting injustice is that different people who inflict the same injury could be punished in very different ways.

As you can see, how the injury is classified is critical to your case. If you’ve been charged with a battery that causes an injury, it is advisable that you immediately consult with a California attorney who specializes in defending California battery cases.

California’s legal definition of “great bodily injury” is a significant or substantial injury.
Otherwise known as “GBI” or “great bodily harm”, great bodily injury is a sentencing enhancement. This means that when a defendant is convicted of a California criminal offense…and during that offense, he caused another person to suffer great bodily injury...he faces a greater penalty than he otherwise would have.

Great bodily harm is only supposed to be alleged under the most severe circumstances. When charged and proven, it subjects an offender to a three to six year California State Prison sentence in addition and consecutive to the sentence he/she will serve for the underlying offense.

The problem is that overzealous prosecutors charge this enhancement almost routinely anytime someone is injured. Even injuries as insignificant as scratches, red-marks, or simple bruises are being labeled “great bodily injuries”.

Fortunately, good California criminal defense lawyers understand that GBI is more severe than the type of injury that would normally result from a violent act…and know how to effectively convey that message to a judge and jury.