Penal Code section 166 makes nine kinds of contempt of court a misdemeanor, including disorderly conduct in court, refusing to testify, and, under 166(a)(4), willfully disobeying a court order's written terms. Ordinary contempt carries up to six months in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both. Violating certain protective orders carries a harsher penalty, with a 48-hour jail minimum if the violation caused injury.
The nine acts Penal Code 166 covers
Penal Code section 166(a) lists nine separate acts that each amount to contempt of court. In plain terms, they are: disorderly, contemptuous, or insolent behavior in the court's presence that tends to interrupt its proceedings or undermine respect for its authority; the same kind of behavior in front of a referee, a jury, or another authorized proceeding; a breach of the peace, noise, or other disturbance that tends to interrupt the court's proceedings; willful disobedience of the written terms of a court order, including an out-of-state order; willfully resisting a court's lawful order or process; refusing to be sworn as a witness, or refusing to answer a material question once sworn; publishing a false or grossly inaccurate report of a court proceeding; presenting an improper affidavit or statement about a prisoner's sentence outside the procedure the law allows; and willfully disobeying an injunction that restrains a criminal street gang or its members. The fourth item, often written as PC 166(a)(4), is the general rule for disobeying a court order's written terms, including orders issued while a case is pending; violations of the specific protective and stay-away orders listed in subdivision (c) carry that subdivision's own penalty instead, as explained below. A violation of a probation condition, by contrast, cannot be prosecuted under 166(a)(4) (see the related issues for CALCRIM No. 2700).
The general penalty for contempt
The statute says a person who commits one of these acts "is guilty of a misdemeanor," except where subdivisions (b), (c), or (d) set a different punishment. Section 166 does not separately spell out a fine or jail term for that ordinary misdemeanor; that comes from California's general misdemeanor statute, Penal Code section 19, which caps an unspecified misdemeanor at a fine of up to $1,000, imprisonment in county jail for up to six months, or both. That is the default exposure for most of the nine acts listed above.
Why a protective order violation is treated more seriously
Subdivision (c) sets a different, harsher penalty for a willful and knowing violation of the protective and stay-away orders it lists, such as a criminal protective order issued under Penal Code section 136.2 or a domestic violence restraining order issued under Family Code section 6320 or 6389: up to one year in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both, higher than the general misdemeanor default. If that violation caused a physical injury, the law requires at least 48 hours in county jail, "whether a fine or imprisonment is imposed, or the sentence is suspended." A second or later conviction within seven years for violating one of these orders, where the violation involved an act of violence or a credible threat of violence, becomes a wobbler punishable by up to a year in county jail, or 16 months, two years, or three years in state prison. Subdivision (b) separately raises the penalty, to up to a year in county jail, a fine of up to $5,000, or both, for someone with a prior stalking conviction who willfully contacts a victim in violation of a court order, and each contact counts as a separate violation. Violations of a domestic violence restraining order or a civil harassment restraining order can also be charged under a separate statute, Penal Code section 273.6, which likewise carries up to a year in county jail. If your situation involves a domestic violence court order specifically, see the firm's page on contempt for violating a domestic violence court order for that narrower fact pattern.
What prosecutors must prove
Words like "willful" and "contumacious" in the statute mean the prosecution has to prove more than an accidental violation. For a charge under 166(a)(4), the standard jury instruction, CALCRIM No. 2700, lists four elements: a court lawfully issued a written order; you knew about the order and its contents; you had the ability to follow it; and you willfully violated it, meaning you did so willingly or on purpose. A gap in any one of those is a real issue to raise. Proof of formal service is not required: the prosecution must prove you knew about the order, and the jury can be told you must have had the opportunity to read it or otherwise learn what it said, though not that you actually read it. Disputes over which order actually controls, or over whether and how you learned of its terms, can decide these cases; see the firm's answers on which order controls when both a criminal and a civil protective order exist and on challenging a protective order you never received.
Direct contempt versus a regular charged case
Contempt committed "in the immediate view and presence of the court," such as disorderly behavior in front of the judge, can be punished summarily: the judge issues an order reciting the facts, without a separate trial (Code of Civil Procedure section 1211). A contempt finding in that court procedure generally carries a fine of up to $1,000, up to five days in jail, or both (Code of Civil Procedure section 1218). Contempt outside the courtroom, such as disobeying a written order, can reach court in two different ways: a contempt proceeding in the court that issued the order, started by a sworn statement of the facts, or a misdemeanor prosecution under section 166 brought by the prosecutor, with a complaint or citation, an arraignment, and the same trial rights as any other misdemeanor case. Do not assume a contempt accusation will be handled informally just because the underlying order came out of a civil or family law matter.
How a contempt charge interacts with your other case
A contempt charge is its own separate case, even when it grows out of another prosecution, such as a domestic violence case, or out of a civil matter, such as a family law or civil harassment order. Resolving or dismissing the underlying case does not automatically resolve a contempt charge based on an order issued in it, and if you are on probation in the underlying case, the same conduct can be grounds to revoke that probation, whether or not it is separately prosecuted (Penal Code section 1203.2). If a protective order violation also amounts to stalking or dissuading a witness, prosecutors can charge those crimes as well: a contempt finding does not bar them, you receive credit for contempt punishment against a later sentence on them, and a conviction or acquittal on them bars later contempt punishment for the same act (Penal Code section 166(e)(5)). Treat a contempt notice or arrest as its own matter that needs its own defense, not a formality attached to whatever case produced the order.
Bring the actual order, any proof of service, and the contempt complaint or citation to the Law Offices of David S. Chesley so the exact act charged and the exact order's wording can be reviewed together; reach the firm at (800) 755-5174.