What is the test for a charge of child abuse?

It is clear at first glance how felony child abuse differs from its misdemeanor counterpart. The felony requires that the "circumstances or conditions" (Pen.Code, 273a, subd. (a)) establishing the "context" of the perpetrator's conduct and mental state (People v. Carter (1998) 60 Cal.App.4th 752, 755, 70 Cal.Rptr.2d 569) must be "likely to produce great bodily harm or death" (Pen.Code, 273a, subd. (a)). The misdemeanor, contrariwise, requires that such circumstances or conditions must not be likely to do so. (Id., 273a, subd. (b).)