What Is Domestic Violence?

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Gina Famularo:	Good afternoon, it is January 3rd, 2020 at 12:02 PM and I am Gina Famularo from Family Law Matters. We have offices in Corona and Temecula and this video is to help people understand what is domestic violence. I have put together a little chart which I’d like to share with you and it is entitled what is domestic violence? I have labeled various acts level one, level two, level three and level four. Let’s go through these and let’s talk about the kinds of acts that qualify as domestic violence. All of these, let’s be clear. All of these levels, one, two, three and four are considered domestic violence. However, some will get you a restraining order easier than others.
Gina Famularo:	Level one acts of domestic violence would be such things as yelling at your partner, cussing at them, insulting them, showing up uninvited to one’s home or work, going through that person’s purse or wallet, going through the cell phone looking at messages, looking at contacts without the other person’s permission. Well, these are acts of domestic violence because there are a form of harassment in and of themselves will likely not get you a restraining order.
Gina Famularo:	The next level would be level two acts and those include such things as throwing things in the presence of the victim, following the victim from room to room, taking the victim’s car keys, taking the victim’s cell phone, slamming doors in the presence of the victim, keeping the victim awake at night or forcibly entering the room. As you can see, these things are much more serious than level one and typically require a course of conduct. That means that you would likely need multiple acts in order to get a restraining order. One typically is not enough because people fight, people get upset, people have arguments. We, as spouses or boyfriends and girlfriends, we lose our tempers. The judges understand that and so these types of things, while they rise to the level of domestic violence, one act typically will not get you a restraining order.
Gina Famularo:	Now we go to level three. As you can see, these things become more violent as we progress down the line and they become more physical. Level three incidents of domestic violence would include such things as blocking the victims movements, physically blocking that person’s movements by putting one’s body in front of the person, locking them into a room, blocking them so that they cannot get by, disabling the person’s car by taking out the battery, puncturing holes in the tires, punching walls in the presence of the victim, those types of things are scary. Preventing the victim from making a telephone call, taking the cell phone from them and not giving it back. Breaking things in front of the victim or breaking sentimental objects that are the victims such as taking a cup and smashing it on the table.
Gina Famularo:	Preventing that person from leaving the room, that’s very similar to blocking one’s movements, but this would be such things as putting your body in a doorway, preventing the victim from leaving the house. That could be by a number of routes. That could be by taking the car keys. It could be by grabbing the victim. It could be by disabling the phone. It could be by locking the person in or forcibly entering the victim’s home. That could be breaking in the door. It could be shoving your way in a door when the victim says, “No,” those types of actions, especially if they’re coupled with some level two or some level one acts, will get that person restraining order.
Gina Famularo:	And then the final level is much more scary and is much more violent. Those would be things like spitting at the victim, throwing things at the victim, punching the victim, pulling the victim’s hair, chest bumping the victim, poking the victim, giving the victim bruises by grabbing them or some other method, maybe restraining them, choking the victim, physically threatening the victim such as, “I’m going to kill you. If you don’t stop, I’m going to come over and you’ll be sorry.” Or threats of suicide in front of the victim with the ability to actually follow through with those actions. Those types of things will definitely warrant a domestic violence restraining order. I hope this video answers some questions and if you have any additional questions, please email me at gina@temeculadivorce.com, otherwise our office is in Corona and if you need us, we hope that you use us-Thank you.