People v. Ballard CA4/2

BACKGROUND

Jane Doe had known defendant since first grade and they had dated on and off for

about five years. She loved him but knew he had a bad temper. In October 2016,

defendant started being abusive towards Doe. At that time, defendant was angry about

1 All further statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise stated.

2 something Doe said to a third person, so at approximately 6:00 p.m., he entered her

house, snatched Doe off the bed, dragged her downstairs and bit her face twice, near her

eye and cheekbone. He also threatened to kill Jane Doe and her daughter. Doe’s

daughter walked in the house, saw appellant holding Jane Doe down with his arm

wrapped around her neck, and tried to call 911, but appellant broke the phone. The

daughter got out of the house and called police, possibly from a friend’s house. When the

police responded, Doe denied that defendant assaulted her because she did not want to

get him into trouble. Nevertheless, she wanted him to stay away from her because he

started being abusive “every now and then,” so she took photographs of her face a few

days later in case something ever happened to her. The assault left her with a…