If you have been arrested for assault in Texas you may be wondering what actions actually constitute assault in Texas. Under the Texas criminal laws you can be charged with assault if:
- You intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly cause bodily injury to someone else, including your spouse.
- You intentionally or knowingly threaten someone else, including your spouse, with imminent bodily injury.
- You intentionally or knowingly cause physical contact with another when the person knows or should reasonably believe that the other will regard the contact as offensive or provocative.
Since assault is a charge of violence, the police and prosecutors take this offense very seriously. An assault can be filed as either a misdemeanor or felony depending on the situation and the severity. You can be arrested and charged with assault if you physically harm someone in an altercation or even if you threaten to harm them and that person has reasonable fear that you can and will cause them harm. You can be arrested with very little evidence against you. If your neighbors call the cops because they hear you arguing or if the cops think you are being difficult you can be charged with assault in Texas.
Because an assault on your record can be devastating, it is very important that you take these charges seriously. You need to hire a Texas criminal attorney who has vast experience representing others in the same situation. At the Dunham Law firm we have been aggressively defending people charged with assault for nearly 20 years and we can put that knowledge to work in your Texas assault case.
There are a few things to remember if you have been arrested for assault in Texas:
- Normally a simple assault that results in minor injury is a Class A misdemeanor. It can be increased to a third-degree felony if you committed the assault against a family member or someone with whom you are in a romantic relationship, and you have a previous domestic or family violence conviction, or if you knew the person was a public servant or government contractor carrying out official duties, or you committed the assault on a public servant in retaliation for doing his job, or if you new the person was a security guard or emergency services worker, and you committed the assault while the person was doing his job.
- When the assault involves only touching or threatening, it ís a Class C misdemeanor. This charge can also become more serious in some situations. An example would be if the victim is elderly it can be raised to a Class A misdemeanor, or if the victim is a sports official it can be increased to a Class B misdemeanor.
- Sometimes you can be charged with aggravated assault which is a second-degree felony. If you are charged with causing serious harm or they think you used a weapon while committing the assault they will charge you with aggravated assault.
- Aggravated assault can become a first-degree felony, in cases of domestic or family violence, or if the assault was committed against a public official, security guard, informant, or witness to a crime.
The Texas Code of Criminal Procedure allows for certain legal defenses against a charge of assault or aggravated assault in Texas. When you meet with our Texas criminal attorneys we will determine if we can argue that you did not commit the crime or if you have an affirmative defense ñ a defense in which you admit doing it, but argue that you had a legal reason. An affirmative defense might be that you believed the assault was necessary to prevent the person from harming you or someone else, or to prevent the person from stealing your property.
If you have been arrested for assault in Texas you need to contact us right away so that we can begin putting together an aggressive plan to defend you against these serious allegations.
