California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Mendoza, B256644, B260903 (Cal. App. 2016):
As for Mendoza's equal protection argument, as section 1109 does not violate due process, it satisfies the requirements of equal protection "if it simply bears a rational relationship to a legitimate state purpose." (People v. Jennings (2000) 81 Cal.App.4th 1301, 1312.) He argues that section 1109 singles out criminal defendants accused of domestic violence for special treatment without a rational basis. But "[t]he special relationship between victim and perpetrator in . . . domestic violence . . . cases, with their unusually private and intimate context, easily distinguishes these offenses from the broad variety of criminal conduct in general," and "[t]he Legislature could rationally distinguish between these . . . kinds of cases and all other criminal offenses in permitting the
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