If you’re charged with assault and battery, you probably know that a conviction is serious business. It can change your life in many ways, including a long stint in prison and/or hefty fines.
Due to the serious nature of assault charges, you need to implement the right defense strategy. It’s no guarantee that you’ll avoid a conviction, but it’s the best approach you can take.
Here are some of the most common assault defense strategies:
- Self-defense: This is the most common strategy, with you proving that you were defending yourself as opposed to committing assault. To establish self-defense, you must be able to show a threat of harm, that you did not provoke the situation and that there was no other option available to you.
- Defense of another individual: This is similar to self-defense, with the primary difference being that you were protecting another person, such as a friend, spouse or child.
- Defense of property: With this, you’ll show that you only acted out as a means of protecting your property. For example, if someone comes after you on the street in an attempt to steal your wallet or purse, you can use reasonable force to protect yourself and your property.
- Consent: It’s not a commonly used defense strategy, but it’s one to consider depending on the circumstances. If the other individual voluntarily consented to a violent act, then it’s not considered assault.
As you learn more about your charges and prepare for your case, it will become clear as to which assault defense strategy best suits your circumstances. In some cases, you may need to combine two or more strategies.
For instance, you may have acted in self-defense because someone attacked you with the idea of stealing personal property.
When formulating a defense strategy, it’s your goal to prevent a conviction and all the penalties associated with it. You should do whatever it takes to put yourself in the best position to avoid trouble.
It’s never easy to deal with the aftermath of assault charges, but there are things you can do to strengthen your case with the idea of putting it behind you.