Filed 5/31/17 Unmodified opinion attached

CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION

COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

In re the Marriage of VALERIE and 

LOUIS G.

VALERIE G.,

Appellant,

v.

LOUIS G.,

Respondent.

 D070495

 (Super. Ct. No. D558422)

 ORDER MODIFYING OPINION AND

 DENYING REHEARING

THE COURT:

The petition for rehearing is denied.

It is ordered that the opinion filed herein on May 16, 2017, be modified as follows:

The parties' last name is replaced with "G." throughout the opinion.

There is no change in the judgment.

HALLER, Acting P. J.

Copies to: All parties
Filed 5/16/17 Unmodified opinion

CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION

COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

In re the Marriage of VALERIE and 

LOUIS GRISSOM.

VALERIE GRISSOM,

Appellant,

v.

LOUIS GRISSOM,

Respondent.

 D070495

 (Super. Ct. No. D558422)

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of San Diego County, Paula S. 

Rosenstein, Judge. Affirmed.

Dennis Temko and Stephen Temko for Appellant.

Judith Klein for Respondent.

As part of marital dissolution proceedings, appellant Valerie Grissom sought a 

domestic violence restraining order (DVRO) against her husband, respondent Louis 

Grissom, alleging he physically injured her during confrontations between them. On 

appeal, Valerie contends the court erred in concluding that, because her injuries were 
2

suffered during and as a result of physical confrontations she instigated, they did not 

constitute " 'abuse' " within the meaning of Family Code1 section 6203, part of the 

Domestic Violence Prevention Act (§ 6200 et seq.).

Although section 6203 defines abuse to include an intentionally or recklessly 

caused bodily injury to the complainant, a finding of abuse is not mandated merely 

because the complainant shows he or she suffered an injury caused by the other party. 

Instead, fundamental and well-established principles allow a victim of physical 

aggression to employ reasonable force to defend his or her person or property against the 

aggressor, even when such reasonable force causes some bodily injury to the aggressor. 

The trial court properly recognized that a person who responds reasonably to an 

aggressor in this way does not commit abuse within the meaning of section 6203. 

Accordingly, we affirm the order.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND2

Valerie filed her petition for dissolution, requesting legal and physical custody of 

their son and seeking child support. At the same time, she filed an application for a 

DVRO, asking for a "Stay-Away" order protecting herself, her son, and her own mother

from Louis. Valerie's application asserted, among other things, that Louis had inflicted 

 

1 All statutory references are to the Family Code unless otherwise noted.

2 An appellate court is required to view the facts most favorably to the judgment 

(Beck Development Co. v. Southern Pacific Transportation Co. (1996) 44 Cal.App.4th 

1160, 1203), and an appellant's failure to similarly do so can be grounds treating any 

contentions regarding the sufficiency of the evidence as waived. (Nwosu v. Uba (2004) 

122 Cal.App.4th 1229, 1246-1247.) Here we elect to examine the issues on the merits.
3

physical injuries on her.3 Louis filed written opposition to the DVRO and also requested 

joint legal and physical custody. He denied he was a violent person, instead asserting 

that Valerie was mercurial and abusive toward him. He supported his assertions by 

recounting many instances in which Valerie initiated aggression against him and his

property. 

At the evidentiary hearing on Valerie's application for a DVRO, the evidence 

showed Valerie and Louis argued about many matters. Valerie testified that during some 

of the confrontations, she suffered physical injuries as the result of Louis physically 

assaulting her. She introduced photographs showing bruising to her arms, a bruise of her 

thumb caused when he bit her, a scraped knee, and a bruised arm and chin. She claimed 

Louis was the person who initiated the physical aggression on each of the incidents 

resulting in her injuries. 

Louis testified he never hit Valerie and did not have an anger problem, but that 

Valerie had struck him on several occasions. He explained that the first series of 

photographs introduced by Valerie, showing bruising to her arms and thumb as well as 

the scraped knee, appeared to reflect injuries she sustained during an August 2015 

confrontation. The incident began when Valerie took Louis's work laptop and hid it from 

him. He described this as a "very typical tactic" she used to gain control when she was 

 

3 In a supplemental filing, she submitted photographs depicting injuries she suffered 

as the result of her altercations with Louis. She also submitted a doctor's report dated 

November 25, 2015, confirming she had suffered a bruise on her chin.
4

upset with him. She would take his cell phone or laptop and not reveal where she hid 

them until he yielded to her demands. 

On this particular occasion, however, Louis was able to find its hiding place (in 

their bedroom) without her assistance. Valerie got angry when he located the laptop and 

blocked the bedroom doorway. When Louis tried to leave the room, she physically 

grappled with him trying to take the laptop from his hands. He held the laptop behind his 

back to keep her from getting it, and she wrapped her arms around him trying to gain 

control of his arms and wrest the laptop away from him. After 15 to 20 seconds of 

struggling proved unsuccessful, Valerie became even angrier. She spat in his face, then 

covered Louis's mouth and nose with her hand. Louis felt he could not release the laptop 

because he feared she might damage it if she gained control over it.4 When his efforts to 

twist his head around to free his mouth and nose from her grip were unsuccessful, he 

"nipped" her thumb to free his breathing passage. He did not bite hard, but claimed he 

used the least amount of pressure necessary to free his airways. 

As she continued struggling for the laptop, they fell onto the bed. Valerie hit her 

knee on the bed frame and she blamed him for the scraped knee, saying "Look at what 

you did." The fall and knee injury ended Valerie's struggle to get the laptop.

The last series of confrontations before Louis moved out of their home occurred in 

November 2015. An argument that had begun earlier the preceding day spilled over into 

 

4 Louis testified that Valerie had damaged his electronic devices in the past. In one 

instance she placed his laptop on the wet floor of the shower, and at another time she 

smeared yogurt all over his laptop. On yet a third occasion she obtained the password for 

his Apple account and used it to erase the hard drive for his cell phone. 
5

the early morning hours of November 24. Around 1:00 a.m., Louis was in the garage at 

his desk on the computer when Valerie entered and renewed the earlier argument. She 

snatched his cell phone from the desk, went around to the other side of the car, and began 

thumbing through the contents. Louis remained sitting at his desk and did not respond. 

Valerie returned to the desk. When she got near enough, Louis was able to 

quickly reach out and cleanly snatch the cell phone from her hand. Valerie aggressively 

tried to regain control of the phone while Louis held it away from her grasp. He told her 

to stop, to get off him, that she was hurting him and she needed to stop, but she continued 

struggling for the phone, grabbing at his arms, wrists, shoulders, and forearms. 

When he realized his repeated pleas for her to stop were not getting through to her, 

Louis decided he needed to remove himself from the situation by trying to wriggle free of 

her efforts to pin him. He was standing against the hood of the car and, when he pulled 

away and she pulled, she lost her grip and balance, and fell on her tailbone. The majority 

of the fall was absorbed by Valerie's tailbone, but she may also have hit her head on the 

car as she fell. 

Valerie's fall ended the physical confrontation, and Louis went inside to lie down. 

But after Valerie came into the bedroom and resumed the argument, Louis decided it was 

time to leave. He left the house and spent the night in his car. He returned in the 

morning, but the parties did not talk much that day. The next day, however, Valerie came 

into the living room where Louis was sitting and announced she was going to the doctor. 

She said she planned to file a police report and seek a DVRO. Louis concluded the 

marriage was over and went to the bedroom to pack a bag. 
6

Seeing Louis on his knees packing his clothing enraged Valerie. She assaulted 

Louis, reaching into his pocket and grabbing his cell phone. The parties again fought 

over the cell phone, and the struggle carried them into the kitchen. At that point Louis 

pinched a nerve and collapsed to his knees, ending his ability to resist. Valerie put his 

cell phone in the sink and began running water on it. Louis was able to get up, retrieve 

the cell phone and dry it off. He then went to get the bag of clothes; Valerie again tried 

to stop him by grabbing his cell phone. Knowing that the pinched nerve in his back 

prevented him from effectively resisting her, Louis called 911, and police responded to 

the call.

Valerie asserted the court should enter a DVRO because Louis intentionally or 

recklessly inflicted bodily injury on her.5 Louis contended he did not commit abuse but 

was merely defending himself. The court ruled against Valerie, concluding that her own 

testimony showed the physical confrontations and resulting injuries were triggered by 

Valerie's aggression in taking Louis's electronic devices and her physical assaults on 

Louis in connection with taking his property. The court specifically rejected Valerie's 

argument that Louis used excessive force in responding to her actions and therefore 

denied the DVRO. 

 

5 Valerie also sought sole legal custody, as well as primary physical custody, of 

their minor child. A finding that Louis had perpetrated domestic violence against her 

would have strengthened her argument because such a finding would raise a presumption 

that an award of joint physical or legal custody to Louis would be detrimental to the 

minor's best interest. (See § 3044, subd. (a).) 
7

DISCUSSION

A court may issue a DVRO to prevent a recurrence of domestic violence and to 

ensure a period of separation for the persons who are involved, provided an applicant 

shows "to the satisfaction of the court" that there has been "a past act or acts of abuse." 

(§ 6300.) Abuse includes "intentionally or recklessly caus[ing] or attempt[ing] to cause 

bodily injury."6 (§ 6203, subd. (a)(1).) Valerie asserts on appeal that as long as the 

evidence showed Louis either intentionally or recklessly caused the requisite bodily 

injury, it was an abuse of discretion to consider the circumstances that led to the infliction 

of that injury when evaluating her request for the DVRO. Stripped of its gloss, her 

argument effectively urges us to reject any concept of reasonable self-defense in 

interpreting and applying the Domestic Violence Prevention Act. The language of the 

statute coupled with long-standing and fundamental principles of responsibility and 

culpability preclude us from doing so.

As Valerie suggests, it is true that neither section 6300—which specifies when a 

DVRO can be issued—nor section 6203—which defines the term " 'abuse' "—expressly 

refers to self-defense. But the concept is mentioned in section 6305, which limits the 

circumstances in which a court can impose mutual restraining orders. In that regard, a 

 

6 The remaining subdivisions of the statute permit a finding of abuse when the 

perpetrator has sexually assaulted the victim, or has placed the victim in reasonable 

apprehension of imminent serious bodily injury, or has engaged in any behavior that may 

be enjoined under section 6320. (§ 6203, subd. (a)(2)-(4).) However, Valerie did not 

claim below, and makes no argument on appeal, that anything other than subdivision 

(a)(1) applied to her request for a DVRO, and we do not further consider those remaining 

subparts. 
8

mutual restraining order cannot be issued unless, among other things, the court "makes 

detailed findings of fact indicating that both parties acted as a primary aggressor and that 

neither party acted primarily in self-defense." (Id., subd. (a)(2).) The clear purpose of 

this requirement is to avoid restraining a party who is not culpable, and section 6305 

reflects the Legislature's understanding that reasonable self-defense is a defense to a 

claim of abuse. 

Section 6305 is consistent with a long-standing principle of California law that a 

party who inflicts injury while acting reasonably in self-defense is not culpable. In 

Calvillo-Silva v. Home Grocery (1998) 19 Cal.4th 714 (Calvillo-Silva), disapproved on

other grounds in Aguilar v. Atlantic Richfield Co. (2001) 25 Cal.4th 826, 853, footnote

19, our Supreme Court explained:

"[A] person is privileged to use '[a]ny necessary force' to protect or defend oneself 

or one's property from 'wrongful injury.' [(Quoting Civil Code, § 50.)] The right 

to use force against another has long been limited by the condition that the force 

be no more than ' "that which reasonably appears necessary, in view of all the 

circumstances of the case, to prevent the impending injury." ' [(Quoting Vaughn v. 

Jones (1948) 31 Cal.2d 586, 600.)] When the amount of force used is justifiable 

under the circumstances, it is not willful and the actor may escape liability for 

intentionally injurious conduct that is otherwise actionable. [Citation.] But if 

force is applied in excess of that which is justified, the actor remains subject to 

liability for the damages resulting from the excessive use of force. [Citations.] 

This is consonant with the general principle that an actor is subject to liability for 

an intentionally injurious act only if his or her conduct 'is generally culpable and 

not justifiable under the circumstances.' [(Quoting Rest.2d Torts, § 870.)] When 

an alleged act of self-defense or defense of property is at issue, the question of 

what force was reasonable and justified is peculiarly one for determination by the 

trier of fact." (Id. at pp. 730-731, italics added.)

Under California law, a person may use reasonable force to resist a battery even if such 

force causes bodily injury to the initial aggressor. (See, e.g., People v. Myers (1998) 61 

Cal.App.4th 328, 334-335 [use of reasonable force to resist a battery even when actor has 
9

no reason to believe he is about to suffer bodily injury].) Moreover, an owner of property

may employ reasonable force to protect property from damage (Frickstad v. Medcraft

(1929) 100 Cal.App. 188, 193) or to retake property from a person who has obtained 

possession of it by force and is overtaken while carrying it away. (See, e.g., Riffel v.

Letts (1916) 31 Cal.App. 426, 428.) 

In J.J. v. M.F. (2014) 223 Cal.App.4th 968, the court cited Civil Code section 50 

and these general principles in conjunction with applying Family Code section 6305. The 

opinion explains that because the petitioner acted in reasonable self-defense and not 

primarily as an aggressor, there was no substantial evidence to support issuance of that 

portion of a mutual restraining order that restrained her. (Id. at p. 976.)

We may not disturb a court's ruling on a request for a DVRO absent an abuse of 

discretion. (S.M. v. E.P. (2010) 184 Cal.App.4th 1249, 1264.) " 'The appropriate test for 

abuse of discretion is whether the trial court exceeded the bounds of reason. When two 

or more inferences can reasonably be deduced from the facts, the reviewing trial court 

has no authority to substitute its decision for that of the trial court.' " (Gonzalez v. Munoz

(2007) 156 Cal.App.4th 413, 420.) "To the extent that we are called upon to review the 

trial court's factual findings, we apply a substantial evidence standard of review." 

(Loeffler v. Medina (2009) 174 Cal.App.4th 1495, 1505.)

In its role as trier of fact, the trial court here concluded that in each instance where 

Louis applied force resulting in bodily injury to Valerie, he (1) was acting in response to 

her attempts to take his property by physical force, and (2) did not employ excessive 

force. Those factual findings are fully supported by the evidence. Moreover, what 
10

degree of force was reasonable and justified under the circumstances was "peculiarly one 

for determination by the trier of fact" (Calvillo-Silva, supra, 19 Cal.4th at p. 731), and the 

court specifically rejected Valerie's claim Louis used excessive force. Accordingly, we 

conclude the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying her application for a 

DVRO.

DISPOSITION

The order is affirmed. Respondent is entitled to costs on appeal.

DATO, J.

WE CONCUR:

HALLER, Acting P. J.

AARON, J.