Violent Crimes

When charged with a crime, the legal label attached to the offense can dramatically affect your case. In California, the term “violent felony” is a legal classification under Penal Code 667.5 with serious consequences. Penal Code 667.5 defines ‘violent felony’ to include both the use or threatened use of physical force against a person to commit a crime. A violent felony may also include knowingly threatening another person with violence to facilitate a crime.

Because California treats these offenses harshly, a conviction can trigger multiple consequences, including a longer prison term, a strike under the Three Strikes Law, and reduced eligibility for parole. Examples of violent felonies include assault with a deadly weapon, robbery, rape, first-degree residential burglary, and others. At CCLG: Los Angeles Criminal Attorney, we are standing by, ready to build you solid defenses and fight for your rights.

What Does “Violent Felony” Mean Under Penal Code 667.5?

In California, the term “violent felony” under Penal Code 667.5 is a significant legal term with significant consequences. It also specifies an exhaustive list of offenses that the legislature classifies as “extraordinary crimes of violence against someone else.”

A conviction for any of the crimes on this list will lead to serious legal consequences, such as an extra prison sentence, a status of a “strike” under California’s Three Strikes Law, and effects on parole eligibility and good behavior credits.

Penal Code 667.5(c) clearly defines each violent crime, sometimes by cross-referencing other Penal Code sections, and this makes it clear. Some of the key examples include:

• Murder
• Voluntary manslaughter
• Mayhem or intentional maiming
• Rape
• Sodomy
• Lewd acts on a child
• Attempted murder

Examples of Crimes Labeled “Violent Felonies”

In addition to the introductory crimes, Penal Code 667.5(c) lists other crimes considered violent felonies. Some listed offenses are straightforward, including armed robbery, kidnapping, and arson, while others hinge on statutory enhancements or specific injury thresholds, such as great bodily injury enhancements.

Key violent felonies under Penal Code 667.5(c) are:

• Great Bodily Injury Enhancement, Penal Code 12022.7

According to California Penal Code 12022.7, a sentencing enhancement is allowed whenever a defendant personally causes “great bodily injury” to another person (not an accomplice) during the commission or attempted commission of any felony. “Great bodily injury” refers to a serious physical injury, such as broken bones, severe cuts, or permanent disfigurement.

To obtain this increase, the prosecution has to demonstrate that you committed an underlying felony and then that you caused significant harm to a non-accomplice victim. If convicted, you will be subject to an additional and consecutive state prison term of three years.

If the injury renders the victim comatose or permanently paralyzed, the consecutive term increases to five years. Defenses usually challenge causation, for example, that you did not personally cause the harm, that the injury is not “great,” or that the injured was an accomplice. Therefore, the enhancement cannot apply.

• Firearm-Use Enhancement, Penal Code 12022.3

Under Penal Code 12022.3, if you commit a listed violent or sexual felony while armed with or by using a firearm or deadly weapon, you face an additional consecutive prison term. The prosecutor has to prove two things: that you committed one of the predicate offenses outlined in subdivision (a) or (b), like rape under Penal Code 261 or assault with intent under Penal Code 220, and that you were personally “armed” or “used” the weapon in the commission of the crime.

If you are found with a weapon, it adds one, two, or five years to your prison sentence, while if you used the weapon or firearm, the enhancement is three, four, or ten years, which is to be served consecutively to the base sentence. Standard defenses are disputing whether the firearm was used or accessible, suppressing weapon evidence obtained by an unlawful search, or asserting the enhancement was not adequately charged or instructed to the jury.

• “10–20–Life” Enhancement, Penal Code 12022.53

The infamous “10–20–Life” law under Penal Code 12022.53 is the most severe gun enhancement for specific felonies – robbery, kidnapping, mayhem, rape, and others. This depends on how you dealt with the gun in the crime. First, the prosecutor must prove that you committed a qualifying felony. It must demonstrate that you carried a loaded firearm under subdivision (a), drew or exhibited a violation of subdivision (b), or fired it, resulting in injury or death in violation of subdivision (c).

The compulsory consecutive penalties are severe, including:

• 10 years for carrying a loaded firearm
• 20 years for discharging it
• 25-to-life if the discharge causes serious injury or death, all consecutive to the base term

A defendant may challenge this enhancement by showing they neither transported nor used the firearm, by contending that the firearm’s use was disconnected from the felony, or by disputing the chain of evidence between the discharge and the victim’s injury.

• Robbery, Penal Code 211

Under Penal Code 211, robbery is defined as the felonious taking of another person’s personal property from their person or immediate presence by force or fear. The prosecution must prove:

1. Taking of property,
2. From the person or presence of the victim
3. Use of force or fear. Penalties may go as high as nine years’ imprisonment, depending on the degree, and fines of up to $10,000

Common defenses are no force or fear, consent, or that the victim did not own the property.

• First-Degree Residential Burglary, Penal Code 460(a)

First-degree residential burglary is elevated to a violent felony if there is a person present (other than an accomplice) at the time of entry into an inhabited dwelling with intent to commit larceny or any felony. The prosecution must establish unlawful entry into an occupied dwelling with this intent. Penalties include:

• Two, four, or six years in prison
• Fines of up to $10,000
• The designation of a “strike”

Defenses can challenge illegal entry (e.g., permission), absence of intent at entry, or if the premises were an occupied dwelling.

• Carjacking, Penal Code 215

According to Penal Code 215, carjacking is the felonious taking of a motor vehicle from the person or immediate presence of another with the intent to deprive the owner thereof using force or fear permanently.

The prosecution must show:

1. Vehicle taking
2. Immediate control of the victim
3. Force or fear of permanent deprivation

Carjacking is punishable by three, five, or nine years in prison and fines of up to $10,000 and is always a strike. Your criminal attorney could argue no force or fear was used, potentially downgrading to grand theft auto, or dispute the victim’s lawful possession.

• Arson, Penal Code 451(a)

First-degree arson, according to Penal Code 451(a), is the act of setting fire to an inhabited structure with a willful and malicious intent. Willfully means intentionally, and maliciously means intending to do wrong harm, more than recklessly.

The prosecution must prove:

1. Intentional setting of the fire
2. With malice or specific intent to damage
3. The structure was occupied

If not occupied, it could be a lower degree of arson with fewer penalties. The destruction of an inhabited structure without a serious injury is punishable by three, five, or eight years. However, penalties are increased to five, seven, or nine years if it results in significant bodily injury.

Arson is a strike offense, and the defenses generally attack intent, for example, by demonstrating accidental fire, malice, and whether the structure was occupied. If the malice is weak, a lesser offense, such as reckless burning under Penal Code 452, could be applicable. 

• Kidnapping, Penal Code 207 

Penal Code 207 kidnapping implies a willful and unlawful act of taking, holding, detaining, or arresting another person and transporting them a “substantial distance” against the victim’s will, using force or fear. A ‘substantial distance’ is any movement that heightens the likelihood of harm or diminishes the victim’s chance to escape.

There are three elements that the prosecution must prove:

1. Use of force or fear to restrain
2. Substantial movement
3. Absence of consent

Simple kidnapping is punishable by up to eight years in prison and counts as a strike under California’s Three Strikes Law. Aggravated kidnapping (such as kidnapping of a child under 14) can result in eleven years. Defenses tend to question the substantiality of movement, consent, or level of force/fear.

• Rape, Penal Code 261

Rape under Penal Code 261 is the act of sexual intercourse with another person against their will, which is done through the use of force, violence, duress, menace, or fear of immediate unlawful bodily injury. Any penetration, however slight, qualifies; ejaculation is not required.

The prosecution must prove:

1. Sexual intercourse
2. Absence of consent
3. Force or fear

Conviction leads to three, six, or eight years in prison, fines, mandatory sex offender registration, and a violent felony strike. Your defense lawyer may argue consent or the ability to consent, that is, due to intoxication. 

• Sodomy, Penal Code 286

Penal Code 286 defines sodomy as oral or anal sexual conduct with another by force, violence, duress, menace, or fear, or if the victim cannot consent because of a mental disorder, intoxication, or unconsciousness.

Elements of sodomy mirror rape. They include the act, lack of consent, and force or incapacity.

Penalties include three, six, or eight years in prison, fines, sex offender registration, and a violent felony strike. The defenses usually argue the lack of force or the victim’s ability to consent. 

• Oral Copulation, Penal Code 287

Oral copulation, under Penal Code 287, is when one person’s mouth touches another’s sexual parts using force, violence, duress, menace, or fear, or if the victim is incapable of consenting. The prosecutors must prove an act, non-consent, and force/fear or victim incapacity. Penalties include three, six, or eight years in prison, fines, sex offender registration, and a violent felony strike. Defenses might challenge the force or the victim’s inability to consent.

• Lewd Acts with a Minor Under 14, Penal Code 288

Penal Code 288 prohibits lewd acts with a minor under 14, any sexual contact with a child’s private parts to arouse, satisfy, or abuse the child. The prosecution must show:

1. Intentional touching of intimate parts
2. Under 14 years of age
3. Sexual intent

Possible penalties are three, six, or eight years in prison, fines, lifelong sex offender registration, and violent felony strike status. Defenses involve mistaken identity, absence of sexual intent, or contesting the age of the victim. 

• Continuous sexual abuse of a child, Penal Code 288.5

This is a crime that occurs when a person engages in the act of sexual abuse on a child for a period exceeding 72 hours. The offender may be a child’s relative, the person the child relies on, or anyone with authority over the child. It is a felony offense, and the offender could face imprisonment for 8 years to life. 

The prosecution has to prove multiple acts of lewdness, the victim’s age, and the time frame. Conviction has six, eight, or ten years in jail, lifetime sex offender registration, and violent felony status. Defenses can attack continuity (isolated incidents) or dates/number of acts. 

• Unlawful Sexual Penetration, Penal Code 289

Under Penal Code 289, unlawful sexual penetration occurs when someone uses a foreign object to penetrate another person without consent, by force, fear, duress, menace, or threat. Prosecutors must prove:

1. Penetration with an object/body part of a genital/anal opening
2. Lack of const
3. Force or victim incapacity

Sentences are three, six, or eight years in prison, fines, sex offender registration, and violent felony strike status. Consent or lack of force is frequently the focus of defenses.

• Rape or Sexual Penetration in Concert, Penal Code 264.1

Rape or sexual penetration “in concert” with others violating Penal Code 264.1 is a violent felony. The state has to demonstrate that the defendant aided, abetted, or committed rape or penetration with another person as defined in Penal Code 261 or Penal Code 289.

Sentencing reflects single-perpetrator offenses, usually attracting three, six, or eight years of imprisonment, violent strike status, and sex offender registration. Defenses are a lack of intent to aid, withdrawal from concerted action, or insufficient proof of joint enterprise. 

• Drug-Facilitated Sexual Assault, Penal Code 261(a)(3)

Penal Code 261(a)(3) criminalizes rape when intoxicants, anesthetics, or controlled substances are administered without the victim’s knowledge/consent to avoid resistance. The prosecution has to prove deliberate administration of substances to incapacitate the victim and then have sexual intercourse.

Punishment is matched to forcible rape, including:

• Three, six, or eight years’ imprisonment
• Fines
• Sex-offender registration
• Violent felony strike
• Possible enhancements for the administration of substances causing serious bodily harm

Your lawyer can use legal defenses to prove the causation between substance and incapacity or whether the administration was involuntary.

• Extortion (Penal Code 518) with Potential Gang Enhancement 

Extortion (blackmail) under Penal Code 518 is the act of getting the property or inducing the action of a public officer through force, fear, or threat of force. The prosecution must prove:

1. Wrongful use/threat of force/fear
2. To induce property delivery or an official act
3. Knowledge that the threat was wrongful

Actual property acquisition isn’t required; the threat of compelling acquiescence suffices. Felony extortion carries a sentence of up to four years in prison and/or fines of up to $10,000.

Defenses include the absence of wrongful intent, consent, or statements that did not create a reasonable fear. If gang-related under Penal Code 186.22(c)(1), extortion is subject to a mandatory seven-year state prison enhancement.

The prosecution has to establish that the crime benefited, was directed by, or was in association with a criminal street gang, intending to promote the gang activity. Defenses attack the gang’s existence, the defendant’s membership/intent, or the nexus between extortion and gang activity. 

• Threats with Potential Gang Enhancement, Penal Code 136.1

Penal Code 136.1 criminalizes the act of preventing or discouraging a victim/witness from reporting a crime or testifying with the use of force, threats, or intimidation, with knowledge and malice. As a “wobbler,” it can be a misdemeanor, attracting up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine or a felony, attracting up to four years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Conviction involves proof of threat/intimidation, awareness of victim/witness status, and a malicious intent to discourage cooperation.

Defenses include the argument of no credible threat, no malice, or lack of knowledge of the victim/witness status. A felony threat under Penal Code 136.1, if gang-related per Penal Code 186.22(c)(1), becomes a violent felony with an additional 7-year enhancement.

The prosecution must establish the same gang nexus elements as for extortion. Defenses also aim at disproving gang association, gang definition, or that conduct advanced gang objectives.

Other Specified Violent Felonies 

This category also covers attempts of any listed felony, for example, attempted murder. An attempt is treated as a violent felony regardless of whether the underlying offense was completed. 

• Weapons of Mass Destruction, Penal Code 11418 et seq.

Penal Code 11418(a)(1) criminalizes unauthorized possession, development, manufacture, transfer, acquisition, or retention of any weapon of mass destruction (WMD) with four, eight, or twelve years in prison (harsher with priors).

The use of a WMD resulting in mass injury can result in life imprisonment under Penal Code 11418(b)(1). However, if death occurs, you face life imprisonment without parole per Penal Code 11418(b)(2). Possessing WMDs that may interfere with public resources will attract three, four, or six years per Penal Code 11418(c).

Creating virulent pathogens through bioterrorism attracts four, eight, or twelve years and heavy fines per Penal Code 11418(d)(1). The prosecution has to prove unlawful control/use of a WMD (as defined in Penal Code 11417) and necessary intent/effect. Defenses can contest the WMD classification, intent, or evidence from illegal device searches. 

• False WMD Threats, Penal Codes 11418.1 & 11418.5

Under Penal Code 11418.1, making a fake WMD to frighten someone is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail. Under Penal Code 11418.5(a), threatening to use a real WMD carries 1–6 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine, regardless of actual intent.

Sustained fear must be shown by the prosecution unequivocally. The defense argument is lacking immediacy/specificity or lack of intent by the accused for the threat to be taken seriously.

• Exploding or Igniting Destructive Devices, Penal Code 12308–12310

Destructive devices are items, like bombs or gasoline-filled containers, designed to explode. Penal Code 12308 makes the willful explosion/attempt to explode such a device with the intent to murder a life-with-parole felony. Under Penal Code 12309, a willful/malicious explosion causing bodily injury is five, seven, or nine years.

Causing death or mayhem (Penal Code 12310(a)–(b)) has life without parole or life, respectively. Probation is unavailable (Penal Code 12311). The state must establish:

1. Possession/detonation of a destructive device/explosive
2. Willful and malicious act
3. Requisite result, like intent to kill, injury, or death

Defenses are used to fight intent, classification of device, or causation. 

• Destructive Devices and Materials Possession, Penal Code 18710 & 18720 

Penal Code 18710 makes mere possession of a destructive device, such as a bomb, grenade, or Molotov cocktail, a wobbler. Upon a felony conviction, you could face two, three, or four years in prison. A misdemeanor conviction could result in up to one year in jail. The prosecution must demonstrate knowledge of the possession of a defined device.

Also, Penal Code 18720 criminalizes possessing materials like chemicals and blasting caps used to make a destructive device, with up to four years in jail if intent to manufacture an explosive is established. Defenses include ignorance of the nature of the item, lack of intent to manufacture or use, or suppression of unlawfully acquired evidence.

Find a Los Angeles Criminal Attorney Near Me

California Penal Code 667.5 establishes a strict framework that classifies certain offenses, such as murder, mayhem, rape, armed robbery, first-degree residential burglary, and kidnapping as violent felonies. Violent crimes attract enhanced prison terms for prior convictions, consecutive sentences, and strike provisions under the Three Strikes Law.

Convictions for these offenses severely limit eligibility for early parole and credits for behavior. Facing such high stakes, defendants must proactively review evidence, challenge ambiguities in charging documents, and explore all available defenses to prevent or mitigate violent-felony designations.

At CCLG: Los Angeles Criminal Attorney, our counsel can scrutinize every charge element, from intent and consent to weapon-use enhancements, and develop effective strategies to minimize penalties. If you or a loved one faces a violent felony.

Contact us at 323-922-3418 for knowledgeable representation that protects your rights and future.