Opinion ID: 3052167
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Butler testified:

Text: Daria was the one who had instigated physical confrontations in their relationship, attacking and slapping him during marriage counseling sessions, and throwing things at him during arguments. At one point several months before the incident in question, Daria bit him on the chest after an argument. After Daria told him about the letter from her ex-husband, he responded that she should tell her ex-husband that she could not help him because she was with Butler now. Daria became visibly angry. Butler attempted several times throughout the evening to speak with her, but she refused to have a conversation with him. After his final attempt to speak with her in the downstairs office, he concluded that it was better if 6436 BUTLER v. CURRY he simply left, so he went upstairs to pack. Daria followed him upstairs to the bedroom, and he saw that she had a knife in her left hand. She came at him with the knife, and he grabbed the iron from his closet and hit her with it until she dropped the knife. Laquan, Barbara, and Deputy Calvo all testified that they did not see a knife in the bedroom after the attack. 3. The jury found Butler guilty of corporal injury to a spouse (Cal. Penal Code § 273.5(a) (2001))1 and assault with a deadly weapon or by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury (Cal. Penal Code § 245(a)(1) (2000)).2 The jury also found as “enhancements” that Butler used a deadly and dangerous weapon and that he inflicted great bodily injury during the commission of the crime. See Cal. Penal Code §§ 12022(b)(1) (2003),3 12022.7(a) (2003).4 1 Cal. Penal Code § 273.5(a) provides: Any person who willfully inflicts upon a person who is his or her spouse, former spouse, cohabitant, former cohabitant, or the mother or father of his or her child, corporal injury resulting in a traumatic condition, is guilty of a felony, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for two, three, or four years, or in a county jail for not more than one year, or by a fine of up to six thousand dollars ($6,000) or by both that fine and imprisonment. 2 Cal. Penal Code § 245(a)(1) provides: Any person who commits an assault upon the person of another with a deadly weapon or instrument other than a firearm or by any means of force likely to produce great bodily injury shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for two, three, or four years, or in a county jail for not exceeding one year, or by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by both the fine and imprisonment. 3 Cal. Penal Code § 12022(b)(1) provides: Any person who personally uses a deadly or dangerous weapon in the commission of a felony or attempted felony shall be punished by an additional and consecutive term of imprisonment in the state prison for one year, unless use of a deadly or dangerous weapon is an element of that offense. 4 Cal. Penal Code § 12022.7(a) provides: BUTLER v. CURRY 6437