In California criminal prosecutions, the term “great bodily injury” refers to significant or substantial physical injuries such as
- broken bones,
- concussions,
- gunshot wounds,
- contusions, and
- second and third-degree burns.
Great bodily injury does not include
- less serious injuries,
- emotional scarring, or
- financial losses.
California Penal Code § 12022.7 PC sets forth a sentencing enhancement that applies in certain felony cases. The enhancement allows a judge or jury to impose additional prison time if you inflict great bodily injury on a victim in the commission of the underlying felony crime.
This enhancement means you serve an additional term in state prison of three to six years. This is a consecutive term, meaning you must serve it immediately after you complete the prison time for the underlying offense. Again, this penal code section only applies to great bodily harm in the commission of a felony (for example, it does not apply to misdemeanors).
Note that California criminal law makes a distinction between:
- great bodily injury, and
- serious bodily injury.
While the first leads to a sentencing enhancement in felony offense cases, serious injury findings are used in cases of criminal battery. This means:
- if you commit the crime of battery, and
- cause serious injury to the “victim” in doing so, then
- you can be charged with aggravated battery, per Penal Code 243d PC.
The following graphic shows examples of great bodily injuries in California:
Our California criminal defense attorneys will highlight the following in this article:
- 1. What is great bodily injury?
- 2. What are some examples?
- 3. What are some injuries that do not count?
- 4. How much time does this add?
- 5. How is “serious bodily injury” different?
- Additional Reading
Dog bites qualify as GBIs in California.
1. What is great bodily injury?
California law says that “great bodily injury” (often referred to as “GBI”) means just what it says – “great” injury to a person’s body. “Great” here means:
- a significant injury, or
- a substantial physical injury.1
It is an injury that is greater than minor or moderate harm.2
Note that these types of injuries are limited to physical harm, and do not include:
- emotional scars, or
- financial losses.3
While GBI includes major traumas, like brain damage and paralysis, a significant injury does not necessarily have to be:
- permanent, or
- severe.4
Note also that you must have personally inflicted the great bodily injury for the GBI enhancement to apply.5
Ultimately, the determination as to whether an injury is “great” is largely made on a case-by-case basis. Judges and juries consider some of the following factors to decide the issue:
- the severity of the injury,
- the resulting physical pain to the “victim,” and
- if the injury required immediate medical care.6
Example: John and Paul are neighbors in Los Angeles. They get into a heated argument, and at one point, John picks up a bat and hits Paul at full force in the shoulder. A police officer arrests Paul and he is later charged with battery, per California Penal Code 242.
After the incident, Paul immediately went to the ER and received treatment. Doctors later diagnosed him with “frozen shoulder.” The injury took over a year to mend and Paul endured much pain.
Here, the facts show beyond a reasonable doubt that John caused a GBI. He required immediate medical care and he had to endure months of pain. John also caused an injury that caused a significant amount of treatment time. And John’s actions were not justified (for instance, he did not act in self-defense.)
Some common offenses often associated with great bodily injuries are:
- elder abuse, per Penal Code 368,
- domestic violence offenses,
- DUI causing injury, per Vehicle Code 23153,
- battery,
- assault with a deadly weapon, per Penal Code 245 a1, and
- certain sex crimes.
This California penal code section does not apply to the following offenses:
- arson, per Penal Code 451,
- reckless burning, per Penal Code 452,
- crimes where causing GBI is an element of the offense,
- murder, per Penal Code 187, or
- manslaughter, per Penal Code 192.7
As to the murder and manslaughter exception, though, note that the enhancement does apply in drug cases, when:
- you give a party an illegal drug, and
- that party subsequently dies from it.
People tend to think of great bodily injury resulting from bullets or knives. However, you can also be criminally liable for causing a great bodily injury if it was the result of you selling or giving the victim drugs.8
Swollen, bruised black eyes qualify as GBIs in California.
2. What are some examples?
The following are a few examples of injuries where a California court imposed a GBI enhancement:
- a dog bite9,
- broken bones (including bone fractures)10,
- a black, swollen eye with bruising11,
- blistering and second-degree burns12,
- contusions, swelling, and severe discoloration13,
- bloody knees, abrasions, and vaginal soreness resulting from a rape14,
- almost passing out due to strangulation15,
- gunshot wounds.16
Based on the above, it is likely that the following would also be considered great bodily injuries:
- concussions,
- nervous system injuries, and
- complete loss of motor functions.
3. What are some injuries that do not count?
The following are examples where the court said it would not impose a GBI enhancement.
- pregnancy, as the result of a rape where you did not intend to impregnate the victim17,
- a minor laceration on the victim’s neck caused by a stabbing18, and
- injuries that you direct, encourage, or facilitate, but did not personally inflict.19
However, you would get the GBI enhancement for serious injuries resulting from drugs you sold or furnished.
The GBI sentencing enhancements can be stiff depending on the circumstances.
4. How much time does this add?
PC 12022.7 is a sentencing enhancement. If you cause GBI in the commission of a felony, you will face a consecutive three to six years in state prison (as opposed to county jail) for the felony conviction. This term is in addition to the California state prison sentence you must serve for the underlying offense.
The exact length of the great bodily injury enhancement will depend on the facts of the case:
| Great bodily injury (GBI) case | Additional prison sentence in California |
| GBI with no other aggravating factors (PC 12022.7a) | 3 years |
| GBI causes paralysis or brain injury-induced coma (PC 12022.7b) | 5 years |
| The victim is 70 or older (PC 12022.7c) | 5 years |
| The victim is a child under 5 (PC 12022.7d) | 6 years |
| GBI in a domestic violence case (PC 12022.7e) | 5 years |
In addition, GBI offenses count as a strike under California’s three-strikes law.
5. How is “serious bodily injury” different?
California criminal law distinguishes between “great bodily injury” and “serious bodily injury.”
As discussed above, GBI determinations lead to jury instructions allowing enhanced sentences in felony cases.
A “serious injury” determination is used in cases of criminal battery. This means:
- if you caused serious injury to another person, and
- did so while committing the crime of battery, then
- you can be charged with aggravated battery, per Penal Code 243d.
The infliction of a serious injury is less extreme than an injury involving great bodily injury. It means an impairment to a physical condition.20 This means more moderate injuries.
Some examples are:
- a concussion,
- a loss of consciousness, and
- disfigurement.21
Gunshot wounds always qualify as GBIs in California.
Additional Reading
For more in-depth information, refer to these scholarly articles:
- With the Intent to Inflict Such Injury: The Courts and the Legislature Create Confusion in California Penal Code Section 12022.7 – San Diego Law Review
- Pregnancy as a Result of Unlawful but Non-Forcible Sexual Conduct Is Not a Form of Great Bodily Injury – New England Law Review
- Conceiving Injury – An Analysis of People v. Cross – Whittier Law Review
- Harsh and Unique: Exploring the Legality of the Resulting in “Death or Serious Bodily Injury” Enhancement of 21 USC Sec. 841 – Criminal Law Practice
- Excessive Force Claims: Is Significant Bodily Injury the Sine Qua Non to Proving a Fourth Amendment Violation – Fordham Law Review
Legal References:
- California Penal Code 12022.7 PC.
- CALCRIM No. 3160 – Great Bodily Injury. Judicial Council of California Criminal Jury Instructions (2017 edition).
- People v. Escobar (1992) 3 Cal.4th 740.
- See same.
- People v. Lee (2003) 31 Cal.4th 613.
- People v. Medellin (2020) 45 Cal.App.5th 519. See also People v. Cross (2008) 45 Cal.4th 58.
- California Penal Code 12022.7g PC. As to murder and manslaughter exception, see People v. Cook (2015) 60 Cal.4th 922; and, People v. Lamb (2017) 8 Cal.App.5th 137.
- See, for example, People v. Ollo (2019) 42 Cal.App.5th 1152. Proposition 36.
- People v. Frazier (2009) 173 Cal.App.4th 613.
- People v. Johnson (1980) 104 Cal.App.3d 598.
- People v. Muniz (1989) 213 Cal.App.3d 1508.
- People v. Harvey (1992) 7 Cal.App.4th 823.
- People v. Jaramillo (1979) 98 Cal.App.3d 830.
- People v. Escobar, supra.
- People v. Mixon (1990) 225 Cal.App.3d 1471.
- People v. Mendias (1993) 17 Cal.App.4th 195.
- People v. Superior Court (Duval) (1988) 198 Cal.App.3d 1121.
- People v. Martinez (1985) 171 Cal.App.3d 727.
- People v. Cole (1982) 31 Cal.3d 568.
- CALCRIM No. 925 – Battery Causing Serious Bodily Injury. Judicial Council of California Criminal Jury Instructions (2017 edition).
- See same.