Colonial Heights Assault on an Officer Defense
There are a couple of common defenses used by defense attorneys in assault cases. The first is to argue that the assault simply did not happen. This is rarely the case but it is a defense that gets used. A lawyer might also use the self-defense argument when building someone’s case. Work with a capable assault on an officer attorney that could determine which Colonial Heights assault on an officer defense may work best for you.
Elements the Prosecution Must Prove
The first element that the prosecution has to prove is that it was the accused person who perpetrated the assault. They must confirm that the defendant assaulted another individual, or attempted to batter or battered another individual, or touched them without their consent and it was an unwanted touching in any rude manner.
Next, they must show that the individual who was the victim of the unwanted touching was, in fact, a police officer or an individual in a protected class by statute and that the assaulter knew or had reason to know that the assaulter was an individual in that protected class.
This is typically proved through testimony. The crime of assault does not have an injury element, so that is not something the prosecution has to prove. For example, there is no physical injury when someone spits on someone else. However, that is still an assault because the defendant allegedly pursued unwanted physical contact with someone. So, most of the time in these assault cases, there is police officer testimony. There can also occasionally be witness testimony, video, or photographic evidence as well.
Self-Defense
Self-defense is another potential Colonial Heights assault on an officer defense that a lawyer could leverage when building a person’s case. Just because somebody is a police officer does not mean that they can just put their hands on the defendant in any kind of way and that the defendant loses the right to defend themselves from the police officers. If the police officers are acting outside the scope of their duty, and doing things that would be considered illegal, then an individual is allowed to assault them in self-defense.
Lack of Requisite Intent
The third Colonial Heights assault an officer defense that a lawyer could use is the argument that the defendant lacked the requisite intent. This can be the lack of intent to actually assault the officer, such as where the contact was incidental, or the lack of knowledge that the person knew the person getting assaulted was a law enforcement officer.
There are many times where police officers are acting as off-duty security guards or things of that nature. When that is, in fact, the case, they do not announce themselves as police officers or they put themselves in a situation as to where it is not likely that they are in fact police officers. That destroys the requisite criminal intent to assault a police officer because the individual is just assaulting a normal person, because they do not have reason to know they were, in fact, police officers. Essentially, there are lots of different ways that an attorney could defend assault on a law enforcement officer cases.
How Assault Cases Are Treated in Court
Assault on an officer cases are heard in a different court because they are felony offenses. Generally speaking, these cases are tried in the circuit court versus the general district court. A defense attorney will approach these cases in the same manner as they would any other assault case. A qualified lawyer could examine an individual’s case and determine which Colonial Heights assault on an officer defense might work best for them.
