4 Common Defenses in Assault and Aggravated Assault Charges
Before we dive into understanding common defenses in assault and aggravated assault charges, Eric Thole, attorney at law, advises understanding the difference between the two. Their charges can be quite serious and may result in harsh consequences like fines to a long prison term. Eric Thole states the difference between assault and aggravated assault charges with simple words - one being a misdemeanor and the other a felony.
Simple Assault
It is an act of intentionally causing bodily harm, attempting to inflict bodily harm, or acting in a way that causes fear of bodily harm to another person like
●
slapping
●
pushing or
shoving
●
raising a
clenched fist
●
making
verbal threats of injury
●
applying
physical force
●
hitting with
an object that might inflict injury
Aggravated Assault
It is an act with the intent to cause bodily harm using a deadly weapon that could inflict severe injuries or death. The deadly weapon can be a knife, gun, baseball bat, motor vehicle, flammable substance, or any other object to causes grave injury or death. It becomes a felony when significant bodily harm occurs, like injuries from lacerations to head trauma.
Eric Thole specifies in Minnesota, serious offenses like robbery, burglary, sexual assault, and rape can also become part of aggravated assault crime. Such felony offenses can draw penalties of up to 20 years in prison under aggravated assault charges.
Four Common Defenses in Assault and Aggravated Assault Charges
Eric Thole, attorney at law, highlights that the charges depend a lot on the
degree of injury to the victim and the use of a lethal weapon in the crime. It
can also determine the fate of your conviction. From a misdemeanor charge
($1,000 fines with jail time up to 90-days) to a felony (3-20 years jail time
and a fine of $6,000-$30,000), a lot depends on your attornies how they
strategize your defense in the court.
1. Challenge the element of 'intentionally,' 'recklessly,' or 'knowingly.'
As the burden of proof is high on the prosecution, your defense attorney can challenge the evidence and elements of assault in the case. If your defense attorney can show your actions were accidental or cause the jury to doubt your intent, the prosecution will fail to obtain a conviction.
2. Insufficient evidence
For a misdemeanor assault, the prosecution can ask for an aggravated assault conviction considering certain additional circumstances, like
●
assaulting
someone while using a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument
●
assaulting
while the victim was physically restrained
● you were 18 or older, and the victim was a minor under the age of 15
As your defense strategy, if your attorney can show insufficient evidence concerning one of the additional circumstances, you can negotiate with the prosecution to get a felony, aggravated assault charge reduced to a misdemeanor, simple assault.
3. Violation of your constitutional rights
Eric Thole states it is the most elemental defense many attorneys use first after taking the case. Your defense attorney evaluates the circumstances of your arrest. They verify whether your constitutional rights got violated before/after the arrest, like investigating the deadly weapon search - legal or illegal, whether your Miranda rights were read to you or not before interrogation, etc. If they find evidence of the violation of your constitutional rights, your attorney can file actions against law enforcement officials for damages due to unlawful search and seizure.
4. Self-defense
Your defense attorney can justify your action of threatening or using deadly physical force against someone else in self-defense. In such a case, they have to prove the level of force you used in self-defense is proportionate to the physical force used against you like
●
Someone much
stronger than you were strangling you, and there was no other way to avoid
being killed than to fire a gun at the other person or use other deadly
weapons.
●
You needed
to protect yourself against someone else's use of illegal physical force.
● You were defending someone else under ARS 13-406.
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