As a Seattle domestic violence lawyer, I have noticed that when someone is arrested for domestic violence, the underlying offense is very often assault. Most assaults are charged as misdemeanors. There are 4 different types of assault under Washington State law. The type of assault that is charged as a misdemeanor is 4th degree assault. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd degree assaults are all felonies. In order to understand what 4th degree assault is, we have to know what the other kinds of assault are.
1st degree assault occurs when you INTENDED to inflict great bodily harm AND you used a deadly weapon or use actually did inflict great bodily harm. 2nd degree assault can be a number of things. Mainly, it is an assault where you did not use a deadly weapon and did not intend to inflict great bodily injury. If you cause great bodily injury to someone, it will most likely be charged as 2nd degree assault. Another important part of Washington State law is that strangulation is always charged as 2nd degree assault. The Washington State legislature commented that strangulation occurs frequently in domestic violence cases.
3rd degree assault is usually dependent on who you are accused of assaulting. 3rd degree assault includes assaulting bus drivers, police, officers, doctors, and nurses while they are performing job-related duties. Theoretically, if your wife is a nurse and you’re accused of assaulting her while she is working, you could be charged with domestic violence because the alleged victim is your spouse and the charge would be 3rd degree assault, a felony. I’ve never seen this happen before, but it’s possible. You could also be charged with 3rd degree assault if you negligently injure someone with a deadly weapon or negligently cause great pain to someone that lasts for a considerable time.
Finally, we get to 4th degree assault, the kind of assault that I see most frequently in domestic violence cases. Under Washington State law, 4th degree assault is all other assaults that do not fit under the categories of 1st, 2nd, or 3rd degree assaults. There is no statutory definition for the word, “assault” in the Washington criminal statutes, but the courts use the civil definition of assault and battery when they apply the criminal statutes. The civil definition of “battery” is any offensive or harmful touching. “Assault is either 1) an attempted battery or 2) intentionally putting another person in fear of immediate harm. If you do any of these things, you could potentially be charged with 4th degree assault.
Keep in mind that you can still be charged with assault, even if you did not touch another person, as long as you put them in fear of immediate harm or attempt to touch them in an offensive or harmful way. This would include something like raising your hand as if you were going to slap someone just to scare the other person. 4th degree assault is a gross misdemeanor, which means it is punishable by up to 1 year in jail. Assault charges are serious, especially the felony assault charges. Get help if you have been charged with domestic violence or assault.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
WHAT MAKES A CRIME DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Domestic violence charges usually involve assault or harassment. But there actually isn't a specific crime that constitutes domestic violence. It all depends on who the accuser is in determining whether the crime you're being charged with will fall under the category of domestic violence or not. Assault involves actually physically touching someone. In the most minor assault cases, it is a gross misdemeanor, meaning a maximum sentence of 1 year in jail. If a person is injured, there was use of a firearm, or an intent to inflict injury, the assault will most likely be charged as a felony.
Harassment can be charged in several different ways under Washington State Law. Perhaps the most common form of harassment is threats of physical violence. But there is also another type of harassment called telephone harassment that does not necessarily involve any threats whatsoever. This is where you must be careful. Telephone harassment could be making a single obscene phone call. Probably the form of telephone harassment you must be mindful of is the repeated phone calls. Under Washington law, making repeated phone calls to someone, whether you make any threats or not, can be considered harassment. Harassment, like assault, is a gross misdemeanor and carries a maximum sentence of 1 year in jail. In some cases, merely making a phone call or several phone calls can be charged as felony harassment.
Under Washington's domestic violence laws, virtually any crime committed against a spouse, family member, or person you live with can be considered domestic violence. It does not have to be assault or making threats of physical harm. It could be property damage, theft, or a number of other crimes.
Why is this so important? Because if you're charges are characterized as domestic violence, there are many other adverse consequences that go along with the underlying charges of assault or harassment or whatever the case may be. The first of these is that the police are generally required to make an arrest by law when responding to a domestic violence call. Next, if you are arrested, you CANNOT be released on bail until your arraignment if it is a domestic violence charge.
But one of the biggest ways a domestic violence charge can disrupt your life is a no-contact order. There is a variety of no-contact orders that the prosecutor and the court may want to issue against you. The court may issue a no-contact order that forbids you from going home where your accuser lives. This could be a huge disruption in your life, as you now may be homeless.
A domsetic violence charge can also affect your gun rights, which are guaranteed under the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. What would be a low level offense is elevated dramatically when your accuser happens to be a spouse, family member, or person you live with. The crime they are accusing you of does not even have to happen at home for it to be considered domestic violence. It all depends on who is accusing you.
As a domestic violence lawyer, I've encountered many DV related issues in the State of Washington. If you are charged with domestic violence, you need to contact a domestic violence lawyer for your own protection. The accusers often make false reports or claim things that never happened. This can cost you your freedom, your ability to go home, and your right to own a gun, among other things. You need to have a domestic violence lawyer by your side to fight the no-contact order and get the charges dropped.
Harassment can be charged in several different ways under Washington State Law. Perhaps the most common form of harassment is threats of physical violence. But there is also another type of harassment called telephone harassment that does not necessarily involve any threats whatsoever. This is where you must be careful. Telephone harassment could be making a single obscene phone call. Probably the form of telephone harassment you must be mindful of is the repeated phone calls. Under Washington law, making repeated phone calls to someone, whether you make any threats or not, can be considered harassment. Harassment, like assault, is a gross misdemeanor and carries a maximum sentence of 1 year in jail. In some cases, merely making a phone call or several phone calls can be charged as felony harassment.
Under Washington's domestic violence laws, virtually any crime committed against a spouse, family member, or person you live with can be considered domestic violence. It does not have to be assault or making threats of physical harm. It could be property damage, theft, or a number of other crimes.
Why is this so important? Because if you're charges are characterized as domestic violence, there are many other adverse consequences that go along with the underlying charges of assault or harassment or whatever the case may be. The first of these is that the police are generally required to make an arrest by law when responding to a domestic violence call. Next, if you are arrested, you CANNOT be released on bail until your arraignment if it is a domestic violence charge.
But one of the biggest ways a domestic violence charge can disrupt your life is a no-contact order. There is a variety of no-contact orders that the prosecutor and the court may want to issue against you. The court may issue a no-contact order that forbids you from going home where your accuser lives. This could be a huge disruption in your life, as you now may be homeless.
A domsetic violence charge can also affect your gun rights, which are guaranteed under the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. What would be a low level offense is elevated dramatically when your accuser happens to be a spouse, family member, or person you live with. The crime they are accusing you of does not even have to happen at home for it to be considered domestic violence. It all depends on who is accusing you.
As a domestic violence lawyer, I've encountered many DV related issues in the State of Washington. If you are charged with domestic violence, you need to contact a domestic violence lawyer for your own protection. The accusers often make false reports or claim things that never happened. This can cost you your freedom, your ability to go home, and your right to own a gun, among other things. You need to have a domestic violence lawyer by your side to fight the no-contact order and get the charges dropped.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
