Assault
How serious is an assault conviction?
An assault conviction in Ohio can carry serious, long-term consequences for your job, personal life, and peace of mind. Some types of assault charges are much more serious than others. In fact, charges for assault can range from a 3rd degree misdemeanor to a 1st degree felony. Thus, it’s important to recognize the types of offenses and their corresponding penalties.
What types of assault offenses exist in Ohio?
There is a long list of assault offenses in Ohio. Below are the ones I’ve seen most in my career:
Negligent Assault
You can be charged with Negligent Assault if you accidentally cause physical harm to another person or unborn child by using a deadly weapon or dangerous ordnance. This is a 3rd degree misdemeanor.
Vehicular Assault
You can be charged with Vehicular Assault if you operate a motor vehicle and cause serious physical harm to another person or an unborn child because you drove with wilfull or wanton disregard (e.g., driving recklessly or speeding in a construction zone). Depending on the facts of each case, Vehicular Assault can be charged as 1st degree misdemeanor or a serious felony.
Note: Vehicular Assault and Aggravated Vehicular Assault can happen with different types of vehicles (e.g., car, motorcyle, boat, aircraft, snowmobile, etc.). Aggravated Vehicular is the more serious of the two.
Aggravated Vehicular Assault
This is more serious than “simple” Vehicular Assault. You can be charged with Agg. Veh. Assault if you operate a motor vehicle and cause serious physical harm to another person or an unborn child because you are under the influence (DUI/OVI). Typically, this is a 3rd degree felony, but it can be a 2nd degree felony in certain circumstances (e.g., driving under suspension, prior conviction for Agg. Veh. Assault, prior convictions for DUI/OVI, etc.)
Assault
You can be charged for “simple” Assault” in two different ways:
- You knowingly cause or attempt to cause physical harm to another person or unborn child (“physical harm” can mean any injury, despite how bad it is), or
- You recklessly cause serious physical harm to another person or unborn child
Simple Assault is typically a 1st degree misdemeanor, but it could be charged as a felony in cases where the victim is a member of a specific class of person (e.g., police officer, school teacher, impaired person).
Aggravated Assault
You can be charged with Aggravated Assault if you:
- Cause serious physical harm to another person or unborn child while acting under a sudden passion or fit of rage, or
- Cause or attempt to cause physical harm to another or to an unborn child by means of a deadly or dangerous weapon while acting under a sudden passion or fit of rage
“Agg. Assault” is typically a 4th degree felony, but it can be a 3rd degree felony if the alleged victim is a police officer. Sentencing can be especially harsh when the alleged victim was a police officer who suffered serious physical harm.
Felonious Assault
Felonious Assault is like Aggravated Assault, except that it is worse. In Agg. Assault, your actions are seen as “excusable” because of being driven by emotion. In Felonious Assault, there is no such extenuating factor. Thus, you can be charged with Felonious Assault if you:
- Cause serious physical harm to another person or unborn child, or
- Cause or attempt to cause physical harm to another or to an unborn child by means of a deadly or dangerous weapon
Felonious Assault is at least a 2nd degree felony. If the victim is a police officer, then it is a 1st degree felony. As with Agg. Assault, sentencing can be especially harsh when the alleged victim was a police officer who suffered serious physical harm.
Defenses to assault charges
There are many ways to defend against assault charges. Below are several.
- The most common defense to an assault charge is self-defense. Up to a point, you do have a legal right to defend yourself with physical force.
- In 2019, Ohio shifted the burden of proof in favor of defendants. Although it is still up to the defense to raise the issue, once that is done, the burden shifts to the State to prove that you did not act lawfully in defending yourself.
- “Defense of others” can also excuse your actions.
- It may also be that your actions did not rise to the level of Assault but did amount to something like the lesser charge of “Disorderly Conduct.” If, for example, there was no physical harm caused, the Assault charge would not stand.
- Mistaken identity. Perhaps you were not the one who committed the alleged assault. Eyewitness testimony is often unreliable or flat out wrong.
How can Attorney Tovanche help me?
Avoiding a conviction of any sort would be the over-arching approach. There are any number of ways to look at the large variety of charges listed above. Because the law requires the State to prove exactly what the statute prohibits, there are many ways to undermine the State’s case. For example, we may may be able to show that:
- A witness’s testimony is based on bias, mistake, or animosity
- You did not know or have reason to believe your actions would cause physical harm
- The alleged victim made any false reports to police
- Officers jumped to conclusions when investigating the scene and did not:
- Investigate thoroughly
- Interview everyone at the scene
- Listen to and look into more than one side of a story
- Evidence, such as photos, videos, or medical reports, fail to corroborate any claims of physical injury
- Police bodycam of the scene support your position
- Are any statements recorded?
- How is the alleged victim behaving in the video?
- Police violated your rights when they collected evidence
What if a conviction seems likely?
Remember that a case that seems like a “slam dunk” for the prosecution may not actually go very far. We’ll look at the whole picture to see whether dismissal is possible, from the very beginning. If not, and a conviction seems likely, I will tell you so. In that case, I would work with you to lessen the impact on your life by negotiating a plea deal and arguing for the best sentence under the circumstances.
Factors that the State may consider in offering a plea deal and a favorable sentencing recommendation:
- There is evidence of self-defense or some other justification defense.
- The alleged victim gives more than one account of the incident.
- The alleged victim wishes to not testify and/or wishes to retract the complaint.
- Note: A court will very likely order you to have no contact with the alleged victim. It is important that you have no contact with the victim, either directly or indirectly, even if there is no judge’s order on that.
- There is evidence of “mutual combat.”
- There is evidence that any claimed injury was actually caused by someone or something else.