Common Colonial Heights Assault Charges

Common Colonial Heights Assault Charges

Common Colonial Heights assault charges are a Class 1 misdemeanor. Class 1 misdemeanors can carry up to a $2,500 fine and up to one year in prison. Because assault has a broad definition, it is crucial to contact a seasoned lawyer if you are facing such charges. A well-trained attorney could work tirelessly to protect your rights while you are facing criminal charges. Call today to schedule a consultation so a lawyer can get started on your case.

Being Arrested for Assault

There are several different ways to be arrested for assault in Virginia. For most common Colonial Heights assault charges, there is an assault combined with a battery. Assault offenses normally include an unwanted or rude touching of another without their consent, and with the intent to do them harm. However, assault can also be charged with an attempted battery. This includes attempting an unwanted touching with an intent to do someone harm.

Reasonable Apprehension of Harm

Unwanted contact or reasonable apprehension of immediate harm is the standard used to determine if an assault has occurred. Courts vary with their definitions and degrees of what constitutes harm. Normally, any kind of physical or psychological damage can be considered an act of harm. However, it does not necessarily need to be a black eye or a wound.

Reasonable apprehension essentially means fear. Therefore, putting somebody in fear of some kind of bodily harm through someone’s actions can also rise to the level of an assault. An example could be if someone is standing behind another person and they swing to punch them but the person happens to bend down to tie their shoe at the exact same moment so the person swinging does not actually make contact.

If someone besides the individual who was going to get punched sees this, it is still possible to charge that person as an attempted battery even though the other person had no reasonable apprehension of harm. Also, if an individual was face-to-face with somebody and the individual made a threat to them, or the individual actually did physically harm them and that gives them the fear of an imminent threat, it can be charged as an assault as well.

Cross-Warrant Cases

The most common Colonial Heights assault charges one is going to see are called cross-warrant cases. Cross-warrant cases are situations in which two individuals get into some kind of a dispute. From that dispute, each party attempts to charge the other with assault. Each party claims that the other person is the one that either did the unwanted touching, or initiated the contact, or started the fight. Most assault and batteries are going to come from some kind of a physical fight or altercation.

There are many situations that are one-sided where one party is clearly the aggressor, such as in domestic violence incidents. There are also cases where both parties had culpability, meaning they each assaulted or battered the other in some way. However, one party was able to get to the police before the other person. For more information regarding common assault charges in Colonial Heights, seek the services of an attorney.