Simple Assault Lawyers

To commit an assault is to make someone scared that, at any moment, you will physically hurt them. More technically, the standard legal definition of assault is “intentionally giving someone reasonable apprehension of offensive contact or imminent harm.” Essentially, to commit assault is to make someone believe there is a reason to fear an immediate danger or some form of unwanted touching. Assault can be committed with or without a weapon.

The victim doesn’t have to be physically touched for an assault to occur. It is only necessary that the victim feared they would be hurt soon. When there is physical contact, that is called battery. In some jurisdictions, an assault can also involve physical contact; in others, threatening someone is assault, and hurting someone is battery.

Assault is both a personal crime (an action that affects the safety of the public) and a tort (an action that hurts a specific person. Therefore, an assault may result in criminal prosecution, civil liability, or both.

What is Criminal Assault?

Criminal assault is a simple assault coupled with felony-level aggravating criminal activity. An example would be robbing someone at gunpoint. Robbery (theft done by violence) is a felony, and using a gun to scare someone into giving up money or other property is criminal assault. The underlying crime need not be completed – even an attempted felony raises simple assault to criminal assault.

The amount of time in jail or prison that will be ordered for assault varies from state to state. In all states, the more egregious the crime, the longer the sentence. Thus, threatening a child with unwanted sexual activity will result in a longer prison term than threatening an adult with the same crime.

What Are the Elements Needed to Prove Assault?

The following elements/actions must have occurred to prove an assault took place:

1. Intent: The defendant must have intended to create a state of apprehension in the victim. The act itself must also have been intentional, meaning the individual charged with assault must have meant to do whatever it was that scared the victim. You cannot accidentally commit assault.
2. Reasonable apprehension: The victim must have reasonably feared some physical harm was actually about to happen. The victim must have honestly believed they were about to get attacked, and that belief must have been reasonable (meaning that an average person in that situation would have felt fear)
3. Imminent danger: The threat cannot be of something off in the future. The victim must believe they are going to get harmed immediately
4. Action: The defendant must have exhibited a present intention to harm or offend the victim through a physical act. This means that words alone, like saying “I am going to hurt you,” are not usually enough to constitute an assault unless the aggressor backs them up with an action that puts the victim in reasonable fear of imminent harm, such as picking up and brandishing a weapon

Some examples of assault may include:

• Attempting to spit on the victim
• Miming the act of hitting, punching, or kicking the victim
• Brandishing a deadly or non-deadly weapon in a manner that suggests the victim will be hit with that object
• Pointing a gun at the victim, regardless of whether it is loaded or not and whether it is a real gun or not

What Are Defenses for Simple Assault?

State laws vary regarding assault defenses; some may not apply in all states. Examples of possible defenses include the following:

1. Consent: This is when the victim permits the action. For example, the victim may agree to enter a boxing match with the attacker, in which case there is no assault. However, if the attacker goes outside the boundaries the victim sets, there is no longer consent. This could be if the attacker threatens to hit the victim below the belt. Generally speaking, minors under the age of eighteen cannot give consent
2. Self-defense, defense of others, and defense of property: If the victim attacked you first, threatening to resist physically is to be expected, and you are not guilty of assault. Similarly, you do not commit assault if you use threats to protect someone or something else from danger. Note that If you are the initial actor or the one who caused the argument, it is unlikely that you will be able to claim self-defense
3. Fabrication by the victim: If the victim did not actually feel fear at the time of the incident but instead enlarged the story to claim assault, no assault has occurred. This is also true if, under the circumstances, there was no reason to think that an assault was actually going to happen immediately (perhaps the threat was made over the phone)
4. Mistaken identity: If you legitimately thought the victim was someone else at the time the assault occurred, this may amount to a defense
5. Accident: An assault can only be caused by an intentional act. Accidents are not intentional. However, there is a doctrine by which intention is transferred to another party. For example, if you meant to assault someone but instead scared the person next to them, you may now be liable for two counts of simple assault.

Will Simple Assault Stay on My Record?

In most states, simple assault is a misdemeanor. A misdemeanor is considered a minor crime and is punishable by less than a year in jail, a relatively low fine (usually under $1000), or both. Probation is also a possibility – what usually happens is that sometimes, you must check in regularly with a probation officer, and you must not commit any further assaults or other crimes.

Conviction of a misdemeanor will attach to your record. However, most misdemeanors can be removed from your record by an expungement process. This process usually requires an attorney to complete.

Should I Hire a Lawyer I Have Been Accused of Assault?

If you have been accused of assault, you should strongly consider hiring a local criminal defense attorney as soon as possible. An experienced criminal lawyer can review your charges, answer any questions, and inform you of your rights. A lawyer can also assess the outcome of your case, including the types of consequences you may be facing and whether any defenses are available to you.

Furthermore, a criminal defense lawyer can work with the prosecutor to negotiate the best outcome regarding your punishment. If negotiations aren’t successful, your attorney can represent you in court.

You need a lawyer even more if you are innocent of the crime you have been charged with. The odds are stacked against you, and you will need good advice and direction to obtain a favorable outcome.

Recall that assault is both a crime and a tort. In addition to any action the state takes against you, a victim can sue you for monetary compensation for their physical or emotional injuries. This means that you will have to legally respond to a civil lawsuit, once served, typically within 30 days, and deny the charges or assert any defenses available to you. A lawsuit is complex, and it is best to have an attorney on your side.