A domestic dispute can quickly escalate into a major felony if left unresolved. Under California Penal Code 591 and 591.5, it is a crime to maliciously damage or interfere with telephone lines, communication equipment, or certain wireless communication devices to disrupt communications. You may think that when you do this, you are just trying to defuse the situation or make the false report go away, but you can ruin your life, end up serving time, and get a criminal record.
At Singh Law, we believe there are two sides to every story, and a single chaotic moment should not be the defining moment in your life. Our Southern California attorneys have the experience needed to defend your rights, question the state’s evidence, and fight for your freedom. Do not let one mistake jeopardize your future. Call us today for a confidential consultation.
What the Prosecutor Must Prove in a Damaging Phone Lines Case
PC 591 generally addresses communication lines or equipment, while PC 591.5 specifically addresses interference with wireless communication devices. Under Penal Code sections 591 and 591.5, the state cannot simply point to a broken or cut phone line. They need to establish three separate elements in law beyond a reasonable doubt:
The Act (Physical Interference or Obstruction)
The prosecutor is required to demonstrate that you took a certain, physical move to interfere with a communication system. Legally, this is accomplished by proving that you:
- Downed, removed, or severed a physical wire, line, or cable
- Damaged or injured a device (for example, broke a cell phone, threw it against a wall, or watered it down)
- Made the equipment unusable (for example, concealed a device or altered settings to deliberately prevent outgoing transmission)
The Target (The Communication System in Question)
These laws specify the types of property they cover. Prosecution will need to establish that the target of the damage was in particular associated with the following:
- Old-style wire telegraphs or telephones
- Radio communication systems or cell phones
- Any electrical, TV, or cable line attached to a communication device
Ownership generally does not prevent prosecution when the conduct unlawfully interferes with another person’s ability to communicate or seek emergency assistance. The state does not have to show that you damaged the phone, and even if the phone cost you the entire amount, if the phone or the cell provider account is fully in your name, the state still must prove that you caused damage to the phone so that communication cannot occur.
The Intent (Proving Legal Malice)
This is the most important duty of a prosecutor. The state will have to establish that you took the action maliciously. Malice in a legal sense is an intention to annoy, injure, or prevent someone from communicating.
The prosecutor must prove that the act was intentional. A lawful interpretation of the damage done by a phone is “accidental” or “without the intent of preventing communication,” in which case there is no evidence of malice.
This crime is often coupled with usual vandalism or property damage. The state, however, must make clear that the property damage was a result of your intention to destroy a communication device to secure a conviction under PC 591 or 591.5. The prosecution must prove you acted maliciously and intentionally interfered with protected communication equipment or devices.
How California Law Covers Modern Communication Devices
All communication was physical when statutes like Penal Code 591 were first written. The purpose of the law was to prevent people from cutting or breaking the copper telephone or telegraph lines on the poles and into the house using wire cutters. A domestic situation might involve literally cutting the landline telephone cord, leaving an intimate partner completely cut off from the home, emergency services, and the police.
The physical form of isolation shifted with technology, and the old laws were no longer applicable. In response to this loophole, laws were amended. California lawmakers created Penal Code 591.5, a new provision added specifically for wireless communication devices.
This new legislation has been extended to include portable devices used daily, not just outside utility lines. It is illegal under current statute to maliciously injure, destroy, or interfere with any wireless communication device, including cellular telephones and other qualifying communication devices, with the intention of interfering with someone’s ability to seek help or alert the police.
Physical wire cutters are no longer required to establish a serious criminal charge under current law. There are multiple forms of communication interference, both digital and physical, in the modern era. These revised statutes make it possible to be charged on the basis of the following:
- Physical destruction — Crashing your spouse’s cell phone, throwing an iPhone against a wall, or dropping it in the water during a fight
- Digital Disruption — Seizure of a partner’s phone and blocking access to it, for example, by changing the passcode, disabling facial recognition, or removing the SIM card
- Physical deprivation — Taking the phone away from the person’s hand or hiding it so the person cannot use it to call 9-1-1
The new legislation establishes modern digital isolation on a par with physical isolation for landlines and imposes the same harsh penalties.
How Communication Interference Can Escalate Domestic Violence Prosecutions
Phone interference charges often accompany domestic violence allegations when prosecutors believe the conduct prevented a victim from seeking help. This is a tactical add-on crime in the overwhelming majority of domestic violence arrests, whether at the hands of law enforcement or a prosecutor. This charge will be added on top of the primary charge of:
- Domestic Battery (Penal Code 243(e)(1))
- Corporal Injury on a Spouse (Penal Code 273.5)
This happens if the police officers arrive at the scene of the domestic violence and discover a broken smartphone or a dropped call. Prosecutors rely on these cumulative charges to gain the best possible leverage in plea negotiations and to secure longer jail terms.
In the courtroom, a broken phone is not considered damaged property or a casualty of an argument. Rather, prosecutors use the broken device to create a psychological narrative of power and control.
The state will say that you acted intentionally and purposefully to cut the victim off from the rest of the world. The prosecutor is trying to convince the judge or jury that you were deliberately trying to cut off a means of communication from a phone, or hiding it, or deliberately damaging it, to make sure that an emergency call had no chance of being received by the police and that no one could hear the alleged victim’s call for help.
In addition to communication interference, destroying or seizing a phone can quickly elevate the severity of your legal situation. Your situation could easily cross into witness intimidation.
If the prosecutor shows you took the phone to stop someone from calling the police, or while they were talking to 911, the state can add charges for dissuading a witness.
It is a serious crime, punishable as a felony, to dissuade a witness or victim from reporting a crime. Some felony violations of PC 136.1 may qualify as strike offenses depending on the circumstances, making any domestic dispute a life-changing legal issue.
What Are the Penalties for Damaging a Phone or Communication Device?
Penal Code 591 states that damaging a phone line or communication device is a “wobbler” charge. That means the state can prosecute you as a misdemeanor or a felony. The facts of your case, the dollar value of the property damage, and whether you have any criminal history will come into play when determining the severity of your charge.
Misdemeanor Penalties
If the state pursues the charge against you as a misdemeanor, you are still facing severe criminal penalties. If you are convicted of a misdemeanor under PC 591, the conviction is punishable by:
- Up to a year in county jail
- Fines of up to $1,000
- Summary (informal) probation (instead of jail) and mandatory restitution to pay for the destroyed device or line repair
Felony Penalties
If your charge is raised to a felony (which is often the case if a broken phone is associated with a domestic violence arrest), the penalties get much more severe. If you are convicted of a felony, you will be required to serve the following:
- 16 months, 2 years, or 3 years in state prison
- Pay as high as $10,000 in court fines
- Formal (felony) probation (instead of a prison sentence), and have a permanent felony record, which denies firearm rights and affects future employment
Bail Enhancements and Restraining Orders
Domestic violence law enforcement will also have immediate actions to take if a phone damage charge is attached to an arrest before you even appear before a judge.
Since the state considers breaking a phone an intentional act to cut off a victim from emergency services, it is an aggravating circumstance. This additional charge may significantly raise the bail amount at the time of booking into jail and make it much more difficult and costly to get released.
Moreover, if a domestic violence conviction is obtained, you will be subject to mandatory provisions in the Penal Code, Section 1203.097. The court will issue strict criminal protective orders (restraining orders) prohibiting you from having any contact with the victim. You will be required to participate in a mandatory 52-week domestic violence batterer’s program. Strict weapon restrictions will be imposed.
Why Phone Ownership Is Not a Defense Under California Law
A common mistake people make during heated arguments is thinking that if the phone is broken, it is not a crime, since it is theirs. You may argue that you paid for the phone, it is on your phone plan, and you pay the monthly cell bill, so smashing it is your right. On the surface, this may sound reasonable, but it is a dangerous legal myth that will do you no service in a criminal court.
Penal Code 591 and 591.5 require the prosecution to present no evidence that the communication device was solely the property of the other person. Your ownership of the phone is entirely irrelevant for two major reasons:
- The intent to isolate supersedes ownership — Access to emergency services and public communications networks is at the heart of this law, which is the law’s central principle. When the state claims you damaged, concealed, or interfered with a device for the purpose of preventing someone from contacting the emergency services or the police, you have committed a crime. The law prioritizes the victim’s safety and his/her right to seek help. It will not hesitate to take action on the victim’s behalf.
- Community property rules — These rules generally do not prevent criminal liability where prosecutors allege unlawful interference with protected communications. Family and criminal laws deem that the smartphone, tablet, or wireless device is not yours alone if it was purchased at any time during your marriage. Both spouses legally own it. So, if you break that phone, you are breaking your spouse’s property, which satisfies the legal part of the definition of damaging the property of another.
It is possible to be arrested, charged, and convicted of breaking your own property if it is a communication device that you use to isolate a partner in a domestic dispute.
Legal Defense You Can Use to Fight the Criminal Charges
When you are suspected of interfering with phone lines, you may feel like you are stuck. When it is a wireless communication device, prosecutors can use the charge to create a picture of isolation and control. Charges, however, do not equal convictions. Under California Penal Code 591 and 591.5, the prosecution must establish all of the elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. These cases are often the result of emotionally charged and chaotic domestic environments, and the state’s evidence is often assumed to be incomplete police reports and one-sided statements. A good defense will carefully examine the facts of the case, identify weaknesses in the prosecution’s case, and work hard to secure a reduction in charges or a complete dismissal.
Your attorney could use the following defenses:
Your Actions Were an Accident and Lacked Malicious Intent
The best line of defense against a communication interference charge is usually the law’s definition of intent.
The state bears the legal burden to establish that you did something malicious. This is defined as causing damage to or interfering with the device in an intentional manner with the intent to cause annoyance or injury or to intentionally prevent another from obtaining assistance for such a device. Domestic arguments are often explosive, fast-moving scenarios in which physical possessions are mishandled. If the phone was damaged for no malicious reason, then no crime has been committed.
For instance, when people get into an argument and argue uncontrollably, they tend to wave their hands or move them around restlessly. If your hand slipped and you accidentally knocked over a partner’s phone, which broke on a hardwood floor, it was an accident. Therefore, your actions do not amount to a crime. Furthermore, the stressful encounters of these events often result in chaos, with objects slipping, breaking, or falling without any motive to commit a crime. When property is damaged, prosecutors may seek to read into it a level of intention or targeted malice, but often the damage is just a function of the physical momentum of a domestic conflict rather than a measured police response.
Similarly, the damage is not intentional if you were arguing over something, like a bag or a coat, and the cell phone slipped out and broke in the process. If the object was thrown out of frustration rather than intentionally at the phone, and you did not know that a phone was in the line of fire, there is no malice.
To present this defense well, a defense attorney carefully scrutinizes the physical evidence, including where the phone is or was and the trajectory of a cracked screen, to prove that the damage was caused by a chaotic accident, not a calculated, malicious strike meant to cut off the outside world.
False Allegations and Fabricated Evidence
Unfortunately, false allegations can occur, and each case should be evaluated based on the available evidence.
Fights over custody arrangements, high-stakes divorce, and messy breakups can cause people to resort to the extremes of fabricating a crime to take advantage of the other party in family court or to obtain an order of protection. In the above situations, an accuser can break his/her own phone, damage his/her own communication device, or falsely claim someone else damaged it. This manipulative tactic is often used to incite or provoke immediate police arrest. This forces law enforcement to act before verifying the underlying facts.
In cases where an individual was falsely accused, a defense attorney could expose the motives behind the accusation to challenge the accuser’s credibility. Cellular text logs, data transmissions, and cloud backup times can be recovered and used to create a digital timeline. If the accuser alleges you knocked over his/her phone at a certain time, but the forensics report indicates the phone was making calls or sending text messages or social media messages 30 minutes later, then the state’s entire story crumbles.
Defense attorneys could also cross-reference what the accuser said to the responding officer, what they wrote in a restraining order application, and what they said on the witness stand to identify important inconsistencies that establish the accuser’s account is untrustworthy. In many instances, these fabricated narratives quickly fall apart when examined more closely, as it is very hard to maintain a lie across multiple official statements.
Furthermore, if it can be documented that the accuser threatened to make false claims or damage property in the past due to a vendetta, that evidence can be presented to the court to demonstrate that the accusations are motivated by revenge, rather than a real safety issue.
You Acted in Self-Defense or Lawful Emergency Intervention
You can also show that one reacted to an immediate threat in a necessary and justifiable manner. You may not take a cell phone away from someone to prevent them from calling 911. However, you have the right to protect yourself if the person is actually using the phone to inflict harm on you or commit a crime. Modern smartphones are solid, heavy electronic devices that can cause injury if used as weapons.
If the other person was swinging the phone at you aggressively in an attempt to strike you in the face or throw it at your head, you have a legal entitlement to try to retrieve it. If you are about to be hurt, and you took the phone away from them or knocked it out of their hand, then your actions constitute a lawful self-defense.
If a fight escalates into violence, your primary obligation is to protect your own physical safety. You do not have to stand there and take a punch in the head if your partner is being aggressive, as long as you can take the device from them. Furthermore, disarming an attacker is fundamentally different from the criminal act of isolating a victim.
Moreover, if the other party was engaging in illegal activity against you, for example, capturing unauthorized, invasive recordings in a private space to blackmail you, whether intervention is legally justified depends on the specific circumstances. Intervening to stop the immediate commission of that crime can show that your intent was protective rather than a malicious attempt at isolation.
When arguing self-defense or emergency intervention, attorneys will record any physical injuries you suffered and take photos of marks on your body to show that your actions were a proportionate and reasonable response to the aggression. This will require collecting any witnesses’ statements to prove this.
Contact a Criminal Defense Lawyer Near Me
An argument between husband and wife can quickly turn into a life-changing felony charge when a phone line or communication device is the subject of a crime. The state will seek to depict isolation and control through a broken phone. However, you do not need a moment of chaos in your life to be your defining moment.
At Singh Law, we know how to expose the weaknesses in the Southern California prosecution’s case and defend your rights. Contact us at 714-328-6189 to schedule your confidential consultation and begin building your defense.
