California Penal Code
Penal Code § 245 Assault with a Deadly Weapon or Force Likely to Produce Great Bodily Injury
Covers assault committed with a deadly weapon or by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury.
Statute text, verbatim
What the code actually says
The verbatim text for this section is being re-verified. Read it on the official California legislative site in the meantime.
Read on leginfo.legislature.ca.govReport readiness
What a report needs to survive this charge.
Knowing the code is the easy part. Cases get kicked when the narrative never documents an element the prosecutor has to prove.
Elements to document
- An assault was committed
- A deadly weapon was used, or force likely to cause great bodily injury
- The suspect acted willfully
- The suspect had present ability to apply that force
Common report defects
- The instrument is called a 'deadly weapon' with no description of how it was used
- Force likely to cause GBI is asserted without describing strikes, targets, or intensity
- Weapon is never booked or photographed
Abbreviated for reference. Report960 runs the full element and defect checklist against your narrative and quotes the exact passage behind every finding. This page is not legal advice.
Related sections
Charges that travel together.
Check a Penal Code § 245 report
Every element, checked.Every finding, quotable.
Paste or upload your narrative and Report960 flags the assault with a deadly weapon or force likely to produce great bodily injury elements you left undocumented, grounded in the verbatim statute above.