Elder Abuse

Defendants are sometimes accused of abusing an elderly relative or a resident of a health care facility. Oftentimes, relatives of the alleged victim claim that the defendant battered the elder or allowed the elder to suffer in the home a health care facility. The police report may contain interviews with the elder and other witnesses, photographs of injuries and possibly recordings of 911 phone calls. The complaint sometimes cites drug use by the defendant.

Penal Code section 368 states that someone who knows or reasonable should know that a person is an elder (65 years of age or older) and who under circumstances or conditions likely to produce great bodily harm or death, willfully causes or permits any elder or to suffer, or inflicts theron unjustifiable physical pain or mental suffering is guilty of elder abuse.

If a person has care or custody of an elder or dependent adult, and willfully causes or permits the person or health of the elder or dependent adult to be injured, or willfully causes or permits the elder or dependent adult to be placed in a situation in which his or her person or health is endangered is also guilty of elder abuse.

These violations are punishable by up to a year and/or a fine of up to six thousand dollars, or by a prison sentence of two , three , or four years.

Our law office will interview all witnesses, review the police report with you and recommend a plea to the court of guilty or not guilty with recommendations to the prosecutor. In some cases, defenses may include the impossibility of adequately caring for the elder or the need for a drug program for the client.