By Sarah Gregory
Judge David Rosenberg reduced a traditionally felony domestic violence charge to a misdemeanor on Thursday. The defendant, Aldo Efrain Arellano, was charged with inflicting corporal injury and abusing or endangering the health of a child.
On June 13, 2016, Officer Benjamin Yen of the Woodland Police Department received a call from the alleged victim, claiming the defendant had injured her. The alleged victim, who was the defendant’s girlfriend at the time, was visiting him from Yuba City with their 8-month-old daughter.
They were separated because of a no-harassment protective order she had filed against him on March 23, 2016, due to other domestic violence disputes.
During the visit, the defendant asked the complaining witness if he could use her car. She declined, which led to a heated argument.
The woman testified that she was preparing to leave when the defendant threw a lighter at the back of her head. She then grabbed her daughter in her left arm and placed the baby’s diaper bag on her right shoulder. The defendant allegedly pulled the strap of the bag from her shoulder, taking mother and child down while forcing the alleged victim to her knees.
After this, the alleged victim left the apartment and called the police.
When asked by the prosecutor if she had been injured by the lighter, the alleged victim responded that she did not remember because the incident had occurred a little over a month ago. However, Officer Yen recounted the statement he initially received from her upon arriving at the scene, and stated that he examined the area behind her right ear where she claimed to have been hit and found a red bump. He also found a bruise below her right tank top strap from when the defendant pulled the diaper bag off of her shoulder.
Upon cross-examination of the complaining witness, the defense attorney inquired as to whether the defendant intentionally threw the lighter at the back of her head or whether it was simply out of frustration. He brought up the same point for the defendant’s pulling of the diaper bag off of the alleged victim’s shoulder, questioning whether it was only a move to get her attention. The alleged victim claimed she did not know whether either of these actions were intentional.
Next, the prosecutor called Officer Yen. The officer’s testimony was somewhat in conflict with that of the alleged victim. Officer Yen restated the alleged victim’s statement that he received from her upon arriving at the scene.
He described both injuries in detail. He also claimed the alleged victim told him the color of the lighter – white – and was crying while recounting the incident. The description of the lighter and the statement that the alleged victim was crying due to her injuries directly conflicts with what she testified to when she was called to the stand.
While cross-examining the second witness, the defense asked whether the officer had recorded the alleged victim providing her statement of the incident. Officer Yen admitted that he had not, and that it was unusual protocol for a domestic violence call.
Before Judge Rosenberg decided whether the defendant would be held accountable, the defense requested that the infliction of corporal injury charge be reduced to a misdemeanor. This was based on the likelihood that the injuries to the alleged victim’s head and shoulder were not intentional, but were simply the actions of two people arguing in a relationship which, therefore, would not constitute felony conduct.
The prosecutor countered with a reminder to the court that the infliction of corporal injury charge would be the defendant’s third time being brought up on a domestic violence charge in less than a year. She argued that the defendant’s behavior shows that he has not learned how to properly behave in a relationship, and the charge should remain a felony.
Judge Rosenberg found that there was sufficient evidence to hold the defendant accountable for both charges. However, the infliction of corporal injury charge would be reduced to a misdemeanor based on the alleged victim’s testimony conflicting with the initial statement she gave to Officer Yen.
