“Felony Assault,” “Aggravated Assault” and “Assault and Battery” are all terms used to define the act of an aggressor willfully or with intent to cause serious bodily injury or death, strikes another person, or puts that individual in fear of imminent bodily injury or death.
Aggravated Assault is characterized by three factors:
- Intent to cause serious bodily harm
- For instance, when a perpetrator carries a gun into a fight with the intention to use it on another person; the intention to cause harm is present.
- Ability to follow through with the assault
- For instance, an immobilized or paralyzed person may have the required intention to cause bodily injury, but the combination of his lack of mobility and a weapon (gun, knife, etc.) show he isn’t able to carry out the intended assault.
- Unlawfulness
- For instance, someone is preparing to sexually assault a person. To ward off the attacker, she takes out a knife and stabs the perpetrator. Even though she intended to cause bodily harm or death to her attacker, self-defense makes her assault on the perpetrator lawful.
Is sustaining a physical injury necessary to qualify as an aggravated assault?
No! Many people believe that aggravated assault is only qualified by the result of physical injury; this is false. Aggravated assault can take place when a victim simply believes the attacker is about to use force to inflict serious harm or death, even if the physical act is not carried out.
Case scenario: John and Stacy are married, and for the past few months John has been abusing Stacy. There have been several occurrences where the police have detained John for bruising and hitting Stacy. This night John and Stacy were arguing; during the argument, John removes plates from the kitchen shelves and begins to throw them to the left and right of Stacy with the intention to scare her. Because John has a history of abusing Stacy, Stacy believes John threw the plates at her with the intention to cause bodily injury or death; so John’s actions qualify as aggravated assault.
If you’re the victim of aggravated assault, first call 911 and if your injuries are serious enough to require hospital stays, keep copies of your records for your claim. Don’t interact with the attacker on your own, let the police handle the situation as they are equipped to handle criminals. As a victim of aggravated assault or violent crimes, you are eligible to receive victims’ compensation funds to cover your injuries, medical bills, etc.
Parvey & Cavenago will help you acquire compensation funds and any other funds available for your restitution and peaceful recovery. Don’t go it alone; call us today to schedule a free consultation and let’s discuss your next course of action.
