Battery is a crime punishable by law in
all states of America. While the specifics may differ ever so slightly in terms
of how battery charges are dealt with and how battery convictions are punished,
the basics of battery and assault are more or less the
same throughout the country where criminal defense lawyers are certainly needed.
Battery is defined as the deliberately
physical contacting another person in a hostile or threatening manner. It can
also be the intentional use of physical force or violence against another
person to cause harm.
Therefore, by this definition, things
like pulling someone by their arm, pushing, or hitting a person or even hitting
them with an object will be classified as battery and the offender will be
punished depending on the severity of the crime. Sometimes such incidents take
place after a DUI accident which only makes the DUI
situation even worse.
Just
a threat
As mentioned, there are some differences
in how the crime of battery is defined and handled depending on the state you
are in. In fact, in some states even just a threat of violence (where no
physical contact was even made) can still be classified as battery. Therefore,
by this definition, just angrily advancing towards a person, raising a fist and
threatening to strike, or even verbally threatening to cause harm can be
treated as a criminal offense, caution criminal defense lawyers.
When
can a battery or assault charge be escalated to a federal charge?
In some extreme cases, a battery charge
can be prosecuted as a federal charge and this will essentially entail much
more severe consequences for the offender that may include prison time.
According to criminal defense attorneys, there are some cases where a battery
charge is considered a felony offense. Let us take a look at some examples
where the battery offense will go down as a federal offense.
Hitting a person with a deadly object or
weapon, firing at a person with a gun, battery committed with further intent to
commit another felony crime such as sexual assault, battery resulting in
permanent physical deformation/injury, threatening a person while disguising
your own identity, battery against special class members such as law
enforcement officers, doctors, and social service workers etc., are all
examples of when a battery
is considered a felony.
A criminal defense lawyer will be
involved in every one of these cases.
What
are the consequences of a battery conviction?
As already specified, this may vary from
state to state and also depends on the severity of the crime (whether it was a
misdemeanor battery or felony battery). Felony assault or battery is a very
serious crime and is enough to send you to prison for as long as twenty five
years in some cases.
If you or someone you know have been
wrongfully charged with a battery or worse still, with felony battery then you
should not delay in consulting a criminal defense lawyer and get started
building a solid defense strategy to beat your case. Your legal counsel will be
able to gather evidence in your favor and present it effectively in trial or
before the trial even begins.
If you made a mistake and you temporarily
lost your temper or had a kneejerk reaction in a situation and punched someone
you will need legal help. This situation may have lasted only a few seconds but
you are still having paperwork written up about you. The bright and sunny news
is, is that you can find fantastic legal help using this site http://criminal-defense.usattorneys.com/ in
just a little more time it took for your to commit this crime and have people pointing
their fingers at you when the police arrived. It does not take too much energy
or action to be charged with a felony.
Do not worry, you may believe your
life is sinking but with the right legal representative, you may be able to
deflect some of these charges and get your life back in order. And next time
someone mouths off to you in a sports bar, let it go! Or just smile more and
perhaps the situation will be avoided completely.
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