Colonial Heights Simple Assault Lawyer
A simple assault is defined as when an individual commits an act that puts another person in a reasonable fear of physical harm. Simple assault is normally charged alongside assault and battery. As a Colonial Heights simple assault lawyer knows, any act that puts another person in reasonable apprehension of fear or an attempted battery, are textbook definitions of an assault. Therefore, an aggressive assault attorney can help you fight the accusations against you.
Legal Meaning of Simple Assault Charges
Before a Colonial Heights simple assault lawyer can help in protecting the rights of the accused, they must first have an understanding of the crimes against them. Assault is classified as a Class 1 misdemeanor. It carries a maximum penalty of 12 months in jail and a fine of $2,500. The first element of a simple assault is that you must show that the individual who is being charged is the one who actually committed the alleged act.
If the assault is charged as a common law assault, and that individual placed another individual under reasonable apprehension of bodily harm, then the Commonwealth must prove that whatever action that was made leading to that apprehension was reasonable.
For an attempted battery, the only thing that the Commonwealth has to prove is that the individual who is charged made an attempt to batter. This essentially means they attempted to have unwanted physical contact with the alleged victim. The Commonwealth may find it easier to prove the attempted battery assault as opposed to the reasonable apprehension assault.
Classifying Simple Assault Crimes
The most common misdemeanor assaults include reasonable apprehension of harm and an attempted battery. The main difference between the two is that with a reasonable apprehension of harm the apprehension has to be shown to be reasonable. The Commonwealth in a reasonable apprehension case has to prove that the fear of battery that was caused by the action was reasonable, which is not something that they have to prove in an attempted battery case.
If the Commonwealth is attempting to prove reasonable apprehension of harm and they are doing so with an act that is unreasonable, then the apprehension will be found not reasonable and the assault will ultimately be dismissed. As opposed to attempted battery, where the Commonwealth only must prove that the actor committed an act that was intended to be a battery. A battery is simply unwanted touching, a rude or unwanted touching with the intent to do harm.
Assault vs. Battery
The main difference between assault and battery is unwanted contact. This means all batteries are assaults but not all assaults are batteries. There has to be an actual touching in order for an individual to have battered someone. However, an assault does not include contact. It can include contact, but it does not have to. A Colonial Heights simple assault lawyer can help the accused have a better idea of which they have been charged with.
An assault can be an attempted battery or putting an individual in a position where they have a reasonable apprehension a battery is going to occur. Scaring someone to the point where they think they are going to be hurt can rise to that level of an assault. However, for a battery to occur, there must be the physical contact. In Colonial Heights, assault and battery are typically charged together.