Assault Charges

Aggressive Defense Against Assault Charges

When the Police are called out to investigate an Assaultive offense, someone’s usually going to jail. When someone has been injured, the police are likely to make an arrest in order to make sure that further violence does not occur. If you find yourself in a situation where you have been charged with an Assaultive offense make sure to hire an experienced criminal lawyer. Pask Law has over 25 years of experience in the criminal justice system and will aggressively defend you if you are facing an allegation of Assault.

Assaultive Offenses

There are many different Assaultive offenses in the Texas Penal Code. They include:

• Assault
• Aggravated Assault
• Aggravated Sexual Assault
• Injury to a Child, Elderly Individual, or Disabled Individual
• Abandoning or Endangering a Child
• Deadly Conduct
• Terroristic Threat

Assault is defined as intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly causing bodily injury to another. Bodily injury means physical pain, illness, or any impairment of physical condition. Assault is a Class A Misdemeanor, punishable up to one year in the County Jail and a fine up to $4000.

Aggravated Assault is when an individual commits assault but either causes serious bodily injury or uses a deadly weapon during the commission of the offense. Serious body injury means bodily injury that creates a substantial risk of death or that causes death, serious permanent disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ. Aggravated Assault is a Second Degree Felony punishable by a minimum of two years in the state penitentiary and a fine up to $10,000.

Defenses

You have a legal right to defend yourself against another’s use of unlawful force. A person is justified in using force against another when and to the degree he reasonably believes the force is immediately necessary to protect him against the other’s use or attempted use of unlawful force. If self defense is raised by the evidence at trial, then the Government has the burden of disproving self defense beyond a reasonable doubt. In other words if the Judge or Jury has a reasonable doubt about whether or not you had the right to defense yourself, then they will find you not guilty.

In many instances, the loser of a fight calls the police and presses charges. In these “mutual combat situations,” neither party should be charged with a criminal offense due to the voluntary nature of the fight. However, the loser of the fight generally will not characterize the fight as voluntary when he or she explains it to the police. In these cases, it is crucial to interview all the witnesses to the fight and get statements from them so that you’re not convicted of a crime that you didn’t commit.

Assaultive offenses are treated seriously by Prosecutors. They keep in close touch of the complainants in Assault cases and take the complainant’s wishes into account in making any punishment recommendations on the case. If charged with Assault, you will need aggressive lawyers like Neil and Harrison Pask to fight for you. Call Pask Law at 214-360-9700 for a free consultation.