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Great Bodily Injury -- A California Nightmare

By Neil Shous, Esq.

California?s legal definition of ?great bodily injury? is a significant or substantial injury. Otherwise known as ?GBI? or ?great bodily harm?, great bodily injury is a sentencing enhancement. This means that when a defendant is convicted of a California criminal offense?and during that offense, he caused another person to suffer great bodily injury...he faces a greater penalty than he otherwise would have. Great bodily harm is only supposed to be alleged under the most severe circumstances. When charged and proven, it subjects an offender to a three to six year California State Prison sentence in addition and consecutive to the sentence he/she will serve for the underlying offense. The problem is that overzealous prosecutors charge this enhancement almost routinely anytime someone is injured...continue to full post

Full post as published by California Criminal Defense Blog on February 05, 2010 (boomark / email).