California Penal Code section 242 defines battery. Section 243 sets different consequences depending on the person involved, the alleged injury, and sometimes what the accused knew about that person’s work. A complaint citing only “PC 243” leaves out the subdivision that matters. Check the exact count before assuming the case is a misdemeanor or a felony.
Start with the subdivision, not the word “battery”
The current section was last amended by AB 977, effective January 1, 2025. This guide summarizes its main charging branches; it is not a substitute for the full published statute.
The firm’s battery guide provides background on the underlying offense before the applicable section 243 subdivision is considered.
| Citation on the charge | What makes that branch different |
|---|---|
| § 243(a) | The basic battery penalty: up to six months in county jail, a fine up to $2,000, or both. The underlying battery definition remains in § 242. |
| § 243(b) | Battery against one of the listed people performing their duties, with knowledge or reason to know of the protected status. The statute includes peace officers and other specified workers, but the list and duty conditions must be checked. It allows up to one year in county jail and a fine up to $2,000; it does not require an injury. |
| § 243(c)(1) or (c)(2) | An injury must be inflicted on a person in the particular list. Paragraph (c)(2) addresses a peace officer; paragraph (c)(1) addresses specified other workers. Each has a county-jail option and a 16-month, two-year or three-year felony option under § 1170(h). The fine ceilings differ, so read the actual paragraph. |
| § 243(d) | Battery causing serious bodily injury to any person, with up to one year in county jail or a two-, three- or four-year term under § 1170(h). This does not depend on the alleged person’s job. |
| § 243(e)(1) | Battery against a person in the specified domestic-relationship list, punishable by up to one year in county jail, a fine up to $2,000, or both. The subdivision does not require injury. If probation is granted or sentence is suspended, the statute also addresses a treatment-program condition. |
These are alternative statutory descriptions, not an automatic escalation ladder. The prosecutor’s filed count, the evidence and any later amendment control the actual accusation. A claimed protected-person role does not alone establish an injury-based charge, and an injury does not alone establish that the person was performing a listed duty or that the accused knew or reasonably should have known it. Section 243(b)–(c) specifies those conditions separately.
“Injury” and “serious bodily injury” are different terms
The current § 243(f)(4)–(5) uses two different definitions. These are exact, short statutory excerpts, not the complete definitions:
Injury, § 243(f)(5): “any physical injury which requires professional medical treatment”
Serious bodily injury, § 243(f)(4): “a serious impairment of physical condition”
The serious-injury definition then gives examples including loss of consciousness, concussion, fracture, prolonged impairment, extensive suturing and serious disfigurement. Its list is not exhaustive. The two standards cannot be swapped merely because an incident report uses the word “injury.”
For a review of the actual count, keep the available medical records, photographs, incident report and witness information. The label an officer used for an injury is not the same thing as a finding that either statutory definition has been proved. Avoid changing messages, images or other records to make them appear more favorable.
Two nearby numbers do not mean the same offense
PC 243.4 is a separate sexual-battery statute, not subdivision (d) or (e) of PC 243. Likewise, a complaint citing PC 273.5 raises a separate corporal-injury allegation rather than merely another number for domestic battery under § 243(e)(1). If a domestic relationship is disputed, compare it with the exact list in § 243(e)(1) before treating the relationship label as settled.
Take the citation or filed complaint, any notice of a new count, and your next court date to counsel. The Law Offices of David S. Chesley can discuss what the charged subdivision requires, what evidence is available, and the scope of representation; contact the firm or call (800) 755-5174. No outcome follows from a code number alone.