People may end up facing assault charges in a variety of situations. They may have inaccurate assumptions about the law that affect their chances of fighting those charges. For example, many people associate assault charges with serious bodily injury.
After all, the very first definition of assault included in state statutes references acts intended to cause bodily harm to another person. If the incident that led to assault charges did not generate significant physical injuries, defendants may wrongfully assume that they have a very straightforward defense strategy available to them.
Contrary to what people might assume, a provable physical injury is not a necessary component of successful assault charges.
Many behaviors constitute assault
As previously mentioned, engaging in physical contact with the intent to injure another person is assault. People can also face assault charges if they injure another person due to recklessness or negligence when handling a weapon.
However, the state also defines multiple behaviors that may not cause injury as assault. When one person makes physical contact with the intent to provoke, offend or insult another person, that can constitute assault. A patron at a restaurant groping a server could fall into this category of assault. While no physical injury occurred, the offensive non-consensual contact could still lead to charges.
The state can also prosecute people who make other people fear for their safety. Verbally threatening someone, physically menacing them or digitally intimidating them by sending them electronic messages implying they are at risk of bodily injury could all potentially constitute assault. If other reasonable people agree that those messages seem to imply a credible intent to harm the other party, then the situation may constitute assault.
The state also classifies involuntarily drugging someone with rohypnol, flunitrazolam or gamma-hydroxybutyrate as a form of assault. Assault charges can lead to up to $500 in fines or six months in county jail.
While people can’t fight assault charges by proving there was no major injury, there are other defense strategies that can work. Reviewing what happened prior to an arrest may help a defendant plan a reasonable criminal defense strategy. Different types of charges may require different strategies. People accused of assault often need to react assertively to protect themselves from a violent criminal record and the various penalties that the courts could impose after a conviction.
