Assault Charges

Assault is a crime of violence against another person. In most jurisdictions, the intention to cause grievous bodily harm (or its equivalent) may amount to the mental requirement to prefer a charge of murder in circumstances where the harm inflicted upon the victim proves fatal.

At common law criminal assault was an attempted battery. The elements of battery are (1) a volitional act (2) done for the purpose of causing an harmful or offensive contact with another person or under circumstances that make such contact substantially certain to occur and (3) which causes such contact.

Assault Charges in the United States

Assault is one of the most common criminal charges. Assault is charged by degree, first through third, with First Degree Assault being the most serious. By far the most common of the three types of assault is Third Degree Assault. This is a misdemeanor offense, and because it is labeled an Extraordinary Risk Crime, carries a maximum sentence of two years in county jail.

Convictions for First or Second Degree Assault are much more serious, and can carry a mandatory prison sentence to at least the midpoint in the "presumptive range" for the respective offense. For example, First Degree Assault is a class three felony, as well as an extraordinary risk crime, which means the presumptive sentencing range is from 4 to 16 years in prison. Because the judge must sentence a defendant to at least as high as the midpoint of this range, the judge must impose at least 10 years. There are exceptions based on "Heat of Passion" being a part of the factual circumstances of the offense. In other words, if the person charged with assault was provoked by another person, this may remove the case from a mandatory sentence, and the judge can decide not to send the person to prison.

Modern American statutes define assault as:

1. an attempt to cause or purposely, knowingly, or recklessly causing bodily injury to another; or,
2. negligently causing bodily injury to another with a deadly weapon.

Some states also define assault as an attempt to menace (or actual menacing) by placing another person in fear of imminent serious bodily injury.

States vary on whether it is possible to commit an "attempted assault" since it can be considered a double inchoate offense. In some states, consent is a complete defense to assault. In other jurisdictions, mutual consent is an incomplete defense, with the result that the misdemeanor is treated as a petty misdemeanor.

[annjd]

Jana---cannot find your post now but in some states like NY, minor assault is deemed "harassment" and not assault. Even when contact is made between two persons.