When an infliction of corporal injury under PC 273.5 involves strangulation/suffocation, courts must apply the statutory definition of a traumatic condition, “impeding the normal breathing or circulation of the blood of a person by applying pressure on the throat or neck,” in determining probable cause at a preliminary hearing. The Court of Appeal finds the evidence presented at the hearing supported a holding order under PC 273.5 – the impeding of Jane’s ability to breathe normally, and/or the impeding of the circulation of Jane’s blood to her brain, were traumatic conditions resulting from the infliction of corporal injury.

The full opinion is available on the court’s website here: https://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/documents/G064127.PDF