While many people may think of assault as just one part of “assault and battery,” the truth is that in the State of California, they’re separate charges. Battery refers to unlawfully and willfully having physical contact with a person, while assault refers to unlawfully attempting to commit battery when a person has the ability to follow through on their threat. In short, assault refers to attempted battery.
If you find yourself charged with assault then the first thing you should do is to contact a California defense attorney. Read on to learn more about the charge of aggravated assault and then reach out to Chambers Law Firm at 714-760-4088 to schedule your consultation.
The specifics of aggravated assault
Simple assault refers to a person having clean intent to commit significant bodily injury to another person. Aggravated assault refers to a situation in which a person actually tried to inflict serious injury without any regard for the live of the victim. A simple assault charge can also be elevated to aggravated assault if a deadly weapon, such as a firearm, was used during the crime. Finally, if the aggravated assault occurred during an attempted murder, rape, robbery, or assault with a deadly weapon, then it will be considered aggravated assault.
Potential consequences for a conviction of aggravated assault
In California, aggravated assault is a wobbler offense, which means that it may come with a misdemeanor or felony charge. Potential penalties for a misdemeanor conviction include fines of as much as $10,000, confiscation of weapons used in the assault, up to a year in jail, restitution, misdemeanor probation, community service, and anger management classes.
In the event you’re convicted of a felony, you can be looking at the penalties listed above plus a longer sentence to prison. A conviction of felony aggravated assault also counts as a trike under California’s Three Strikes Law.
Potential defenses to aggravated assault
The best way to defend your case will depend on the circumstances of the incident and the evidence against you. To find out more about your specific options, reach out to Chambers Law Firm at 714-760-4088. That said, there are some potential defenses that are often used in aggravated assault cases. First, we may show that you weren’t actually able to inflict the force. For example, if you were arrested for a crime in which a firearm was used and that firearm wasn’t loaded, we could us this as support that you weren’t capable of inflicting significant harm.
Other options include showing that you were acting in self-defense, showing that you were defending someone else, that you didn’t act willfully or with intent, or that you weren’t involved in the incident at all and were wrongly arrested.
Of course, in some cases, when there’s a wealth of evidence against you, we may work to find the best possible plea agreement. For example, we may work to get a felony reduced to a misdemeanor. It all depends on the specifics of your case.
