3 Ways To Defend Yourself In Court When Charged With Assault
Posted on: 11 February 2015
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Anytime you are brought to court with assault charges against you, you must take them seriously. If you are convicted, there is a possibility you will face jail time for your crime. If you want to have the best chance of winning in court, you will need the help of a criminal defense attorney.
They have experience with these types of cases, and can help you with one of these three defenses to an assault charge:
1. The Assault Was Consensual
Though not often used, consent can be a defense for your assault charge. This is because assault is when another person is physically harmed without giving their consent. If your lawyer can help you prove the reason you assaulted them was consensual, you will be able to successfully defend yourself.
In order the assault to be consensual, there must be evidence that you and the other person agreed to a situation where the assault happened. The easiest way this can be proved is if you both willingly participated in a physical sporting event where the assault occurred.
2. The Assault Was In Self Defense
If the situation that the assault occurred was due to self defense, it could be enough to prove you are not guilty. You always have the ability to defend yourself in a situation where you feel like you are in danger. The key is proving that the victim was aggressive towards you first, with their action making you afraid.
Keep in mind that you cannot use more force when defending yourself than the forced that was used to attack you. A punch can be countered with a punch, but not with a gun. In that situation, the gun would be called excessive force, which would rule out using this strategy in your favor.
3. The Assault Was Because You Were Defending Someone Else
In a dangerous situation you can protect another person, as well as yourself. Especially those people unable to defend themselves, such as a child. It does matter what your relation is to the other person as long as you were coming to their aid.
Similar to self defense, you must prove that you feared for the other person's safety. It does not matter if the other person did or did not feel fear, as it is about how you perceived the threat.
If the justification for your assault charge is for one of these 3 reasons, you have a good chance of winning in court. If you have other questions or want to know more, contact a professional like Jeffrey D. Larson, Attorney at Law to learn more.