Assault and battery cases often hinge on how law enforcement interprets what they see in the aftermath of an assault. Conflicting stories and heightened emotions would make it difficult for anyone to get a clear picture of what really happened. This is especially true when the arrest is based on threats of violence rather than an actual attack. You have the right to defend yourself from threats of physical violence within reason, but who is to say what is within reason? Police officers have to determine what really happened and, in some cases, who should be charged. It takes an experienced attorney to understand how to untangle what are often complicated assault and battery cases.
I am criminal defense attorney Terry L. Pierce. For more than 30 years, I have defended clients against assault and battery charges. Remember that an arrest is not a guilty verdict; it merely sets the legal process in motion. If you are facing assault and battery charges, I will use my skills and experience to work tirelessly to defend your rights.
Understanding Oklahoma Assault And Battery Laws
Although assault and battery are often charged in the same arrest, they are separate charges. Assault charges are based on a willful attempt or threats of violence to harm another person. Battery is the willful use of violence on another person. When these crimes are committed against a family member, the crime is domestic abuse and carries harsher penalties than simple assault and battery charges.
Overarching categories of Oklahoma assault and battery laws include:
- Assault and battery
- Aggravated assault and battery
- Assault and battery with a dangerous weapon
- Domestic abuse
- Maiming
- Shooting with intent to kill
When these crimes are committed against court officers, law enforcement officers or other first responders, the charges and penalties are escalated. This is also true when these crimes are committed against a school employee by a student or the parent of a student.
Aggressive And Innovative Legal Defense Strategies
For three decades I have counseled and represented clients facing assault and battery charges. My method is to take an exhaustive approach to gathering evidence and create a defense strategy based on the unique circumstances of your case while tapping insights I have acquired throughout my career. There are several approaches to defending clients charged with assault and battery. In some cases, the defense is to show that the charges are without merit because the force used was in self-defense or a reasonable response to the situation. Sometimes getting the charges dropped isn’t possible, and negotiating reduced charges with less severe penalties is the best option. No matter what the circumstances are surrounding your case, I will work tirelessly to minimize penalties and protect your rights.
How Does the State Prove Assault and Battery?
For an assault and battery conviction, the state must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the perpetrator willfully and unlawfully used force or violence upon a victim (21 O.S.641). Oklahoma distinguishes between simple assault, battery, or assault and battery and assault, battery, or assault and battery in a domestic abuse context.
Assault, which is an intentional attempt to batter someone or intentionally place them in fear of a battery, is typically included in a battery charge. A battery in common law is illicitly beating or otherwise physically violating or constraining someone, no matter how slight, without the victim’s consent. Simple assault, battery, or assault and battery does not require the prosecution to prove the defendant specifically intended to commit the offense.
Thus, an individual who forcefully grabs documents from another’s grasp, causing the person a paper cut or strained wrist, may be guilty of assault and battery as much as anyone slapping another across the face in a heated argument. In either case, the non-consenting victim suffers an assault and battery even though the perpetrator had no intention to cause injury or even to commit the battery. Worse, an assault and battery may lead to other charges, such as kidnapping or false imprisonment, when the accused wrongfully confines the battered individual.
Thus, the range of penalties for assault, battery, and other charges varies with the circumstances. However, all convictions, whether misdemeanor or felony, cause unsuspected physical, emotional, and financial hardship to the convicted individual. A criminal record affects a person’s ability to obtain or maintain employment, housing, professional licenses, loans, and educational opportunities. Background checks pick up felonies and misdemeanors until expunged.
What Are the Penalties for Assault and Battery?
A conviction for assault and battery of an intimate partner results in a potential one-year jail sentence and a $5,000.00 fine for a first offense. The penalty rises with a subsequent domestic violence assault and battery conviction. A convicted defendant is looking at possibly four years’ incarceration in the custody of the Department of Corrections and $5,000.00 in fines for a second offense.
Moreover, intentionally using a “sharp or dangerous weapon” to harm an intimate partner could mean ten years in a corrections facility or one year in county jail for aggravated assault or assault and battery. And a domestic violence shooting could result in life imprisonment. Note that if the domestic violence victim is pregnant, the abuser who knows of the pregnancy before committing domestic abuse is looking at a year in county jail but up to ten years for a second offense. Should a miscarriage result from the assault and battery, the sentence goes up to a minimum of 20 years imprisonment. (21 O.S. 652).
Severely battered domestic abuse victims, meaning those who suffered severe bodily injury, could see their abusers serve ten years in a corrections facility or one year in county jail. In addition, committing domestic abuse in a minor’s presence is punishable by a minimum of six months to a year, a fine up to $5,000.00, or both. A second such offense increases the punishment to one to five years in custody, a maximum fine of $7,000.00, or both.
A court may determine that incarceration is not appropriate; instead, it can order a suspended or deferred sentence for a domestic abuse assault and battery and condition such an order on the defendant’s attending counseling or treatment. The court may further order the defendant’s assessment for a year-long batterer’s intervention program, including anger management and other resources to help the batterer rehabilitate.
What are Defenses to Assault and Battery?
No doubt, you want a strong advocate to fight for you when you face assault and battery charges. An experienced criminal defense attorney reviews your case and evaluates potential defenses that may lead to a case dismissal, not guilty verdict, or reduced charges and penalties. A confident and knowledgeable attorney can pull from your story whether defenses to the charges exist.
For example, your inability to commit the alleged crime is a complete defense. When the state accuses you of kicking the victim while you were in a leg cast, it raises serious doubts about your ability to have committed the battery. An attorney’s job is to raise doubt to a jury so that the state does not meet its burden of proof and the jury returns a not-guilty verdict. Furthermore, self-defense or defense of another may let you off the hook.
You may defend yourself when someone throws a punch or otherwise threatens your or another’s safety or physical well-being, so long as the force to fend off the threat is reasonable. In other words, you cannot pull out a gun in self-defense of someone’s verbal threat to slap you. The defensive force is disproportionate to the danger.
Additionally, accidents are not prosecutable batteries under criminal law. One of the elements of assault and battery is intent. Also, misidentification may cause you to become the victim innocent of any wrongdoing. You could be wrongfully accused due to mistaken identity. Finally, you may have restrained someone dangerous to others’ safety, another potential defense to the crime.
A criminal defense attorney who challenges a prosecuting attorney at every step of the proceedings will help you fight the state’s charges, plea bargain for a lesser charge, or get a lighter sentence. An attorney familiar with the judges and prosecutors may make the case for a deferred sentence while you complete probation or a suspended sentence. In doing so, they may highlight your remorse to convince a prosecutor to sentence more favorably toward rehabilitation and reintegration into society, especially when you have a clean criminal history.
If You Are Facing Assault And Battery Charges, Contact Me Today
To schedule a consultation to discuss the charges against you, call my Norman office at (405) 579-3700 or fill out my online contact form. These cases are often complex, so the sooner you reach out to me, the better.