The penalty for assault and battery in San Diego can be very harsh. California penal code section 242 outlines what this criminal offense is and what you could face if you’re convicted, including prison time, steep fines, and ending up with a criminal record for the rest of your life.
If you’ve been charged with a serious crime like assault and battery in California, the most important step you can take is to hire experienced assault and battery lawyers who can fight for your rights.
At Elite Criminal Defense, our team has decades of experience providing clients with the support they need as they navigate the legal process. Learn more about the challenges of assault and battery cases and how the right criminal defense lawyer can help.
Definition and Elements of Assault
Defining assault legally is more complex than most people think. California sees assault as the unlawful attempt to use violence or force on another person. Whether they succeed in doing so or not doesn’t matter.
California penal code section 240 deals with what’s called simple assault. This section states that the person must have had the ability to commit the assault. If they don’t have the ability, assault is not an appropriate charge. This crime is treated like a misdemeanor offense in the state.
The law also has an act requirement. Any overt or direct act that leads a person to fear for their safety constitutes assault. Keep in mind that threats are not assault unless there’s an action that accompanies them, like brandishing a weapon.
Sometimes, people use the terms assault and battery interchangeably, but they are two separate charges. Battery refers to the act of causing physical harm to another person. California penal code sections 242 and 243 address battery charges.
Battery charges don’t require that there be any intent on the defendant’s part. There is an act requirement, however. Physical contact must occur to be charged with battery.
Under California law, physical contact could include actions such as hitting, punching, or kicking, but there could be more subtle forms of contact that still result in battery charges. Vitally, injury is not necessary — only contact. That’s why spitting on someone is battery.
Types of Assault Charges
Simple assault or assault and battery are the most common charges, but there are others.
Assault and/or Battery Upon a Peace Officer
You can be charged with assault upon a peace officer if you have the intent to use force or violence against a police officer, emergency medical technician, lifeguard, firefighter, doctor, or nurse working in an emergency situation, and a variety of other professionals.
For this charge, the plaintiff must have been working within their duties. Being off-duty counts, too, but only if their profession was obvious.
Anyone who actually comes into contact with the officer or professional can face charges of battery on a peace officer.
Assault and/or Battery Upon a Parking Control Officer
If you had the intent to inflict a violent injury to a parking control officer who was performing their duties, then you can be charged with this offense. It’s similar to simple assault but tends to carry slightly more severe punishments. Battery charges are also possible.
Assault and/or Battery With a Deadly Weapon
Assault with a deadly weapon is a variation of simple assault in which you’re accused of trying to cause harm to another person by using weapons, such as a knife or gun, or by using other means of force that could have resulted in serious bodily injury.
To receive a charge of battery with a deadly weapon, you must be accused of making contact with the person while using a weapon.
Assault and/or Battery With Caustic Chemicals
California penal code section 244 covers assaults in which the defendant is accused of having the intent to use caustic chemicals to disfigure and injure another person. If you used chemicals against someone else, that is a battery with caustic chemicals.
Aggravated Battery
Aggravated battery refers to causing serious bodily injury. You can be charged with this by striking or touching someone in a harmful or offensive manner, resulting in severe bodily injury.
Domestic Battery
Domestic battery refers to the use of force against an intimate partner. It can involve spouses, former spouses, fiancees, and many others.
Sexual Battery
Sexual battery occurs if the accused allegedly touched the victim’s intimate parts against their will with the intent of achieving sexual gratification or arousal or in order to abuse the other person.
Defenses to Assault Charges
By working with a criminal defense attorney, you can prepare an appropriate defense to fight for your rights. The unique factors in the case will dictate which option is the most useful to help you avoid a conviction. This is one crucial reason why having a lawyer assisting you makes a difference.
Self-Defense
One of the most powerful defenses for assault and battery charges is to state that you acted in self-defense. If you have a reasonable belief that the other party is going to harm you in any way, you have a right to defend yourself.
It can help to have witnesses who can testify to any potential threats to your safety, and it’s important to prove that the force you used or intended to use was proportionate to the danger. Your lawyer will also have to demonstrate that you didn’t provoke the person.
Defense of Others
If you acted in defense of others who were in imminent danger of harm and the force you used was appropriate, you can use it as a defense. This is a complex option, so it’s vital that you have experienced representation.
Lack of Intent
You can only be charged with assault if your intent was to cause harm. If you didn’t have the mindset to use willful and unlawful force, or if you didn’t understand the consequences of your actions, then that could mean you’ve not committed assault.
Lack of Ability to Inflict Force
California law requires showing that you had the ability to inflict harm on another person. If you’re incapacitated in some way, for example, you may be able to show that you couldn’t have caused serious injury to others.
Duress
In certain cases, it’s possible to claim you were under duress. If someone else threatened you with harm unless you committed the assault, then that could be a viable defense. Your lawyer will have to demonstrate that the danger was imminent and that there were no other reasonable options.
Mistaken Identity
The victim might not have seen the person who assaulted them clearly. The prosecution must prove that you are the culprit beyond a reasonable doubt, so not having a clear identification can be a strong defense.
In some instances, your attorney can also try to establish that there’s no way of knowing whether you committed the alleged assault or battery. If the crime occurred at night, for example, it might have been too dark to clearly spot who the culprit was. There may not be substantial evidence of the perpetrator’s identity from security cameras or eyewitnesses, either.
If a witness places you at the scene, your lawyers will try to bring doubt into their testimony or present evidence that you were somewhere else at the time. If there’s physical evidence, your team can also look at how it was obtained and whether the chain of custody was respected.
The defense your legal team uses will be specific to your case, so there may be a number of ways of showing that it wasn’t you who committed the crime.
Penalties for Assault in San Diego
The penalty for assault and battery in San Diego that you receive will depend on the exact charges you face. Simple assault is a misdemeanor offense that can mean up to six months in a county jail. You’ll also have to pay a fine of up to $1,000.
If you’re charged with assault on a police officer or other similar professional, you can expect the penalties to be more severe. You could spend up to one year in county jail and pay fines of up to $2,000.
The penalty for assault and battery in San Diego gets even more serious if you are accused of using a deadly weapon. This could be seen as felony assault, which could mean up to four years of jail time and up to $10,000 in fines. If the alleged victim suffered serious bodily injury, the jail sentence can be much higher.
Sexual battery could be charged as a misdemeanor or felony. As a misdemeanor, you might need to spend up to six months in jail or one year if there was an aggravating factor. If the alleged victim was your employee, your fines can be as high as $3,000. You’ll also need to register as a sexual offender.
What a Criminal Record Means
An assault and battery conviction means having a criminal record, which imposes even more penalties on you. It can be difficult to find somewhere to live if you have a record because landlords will perform background checks. Living in federal housing is also impossible. If you need to register as a sex offender, that, too, imposes restrictions on where you can reside.
Your job options will suffer, too. Employers don’t typically want to hire people with criminal records, so it can limit your work options. Additionally, you can lose professional licenses if you’ve been convicted of a crime.
If you were planning on returning to school to complete a degree, that may not be possible if you require federal loans. If you’re convicted of sexual battery, being around minors won’t be allowed, either.
A conviction will also mean not being able to own firearms. If you receive a felony conviction, traveling to certain countries may be out of the question. Additionally, people who are not citizens can have problems with their immigration status if they’re convicted of a violent crime.
Civil Lawsuits and Restitution
Alleged victims of assault have the right to file civil lawsuits against you for the harm that you caused them. These lawsuits can help them recover damages to pay medical expenses and lost wages they suffered, which means serious economic losses for you.
Not only will you have to hire an attorney to represent you through these further legal issues, but you may end up having to pay huge amounts.
To be held liable in a civil suit, you don’t have to be found guilty in a criminal trial. You don’t even need to be charged with a crime. You can be acquitted by a jury and still face a lawsuit.
It’s also much easier to prove someone is liable for the losses that their actions caused than it is to prove someone is guilty of a crime. Unlike criminal cases, where the threshold is proving something beyond a reasonable doubt, civil cases only require a preponderance of evidence.
This means that it is more likely than not that the defendant is liable. Because of this lower threshold, many who are cleared of criminal charges still face civil cases.
To win a battery claim, all the plaintiff has to demonstrate is that you touched them with the intent to harm or offend them, that the plaintiff didn’t consent to be touched and they experienced harm or offense, and that any other person in the plaintiff’s position would have been harmed or offended.
Working With a San Diego Criminal Attorney
The moment you’re arrested and charged with assault and battery, you need to have a criminal defense attorney by your side. Being convicted of a crime means facing life-altering consequences, so you should never attempt to go through the process alone.
At Elite Criminal Defense, we begin the process of helping our client by conducting a full independent investigation into the alleged crime. We will look closely at how the arrest occurred and whether your rights were respected. If you weren’t given your Miranda warning or if your request for a lawyer wasn’t respected, we can use that to defend you.
We’ll also look at any evidence that the prosecution has against you and how it was obtained. If law enforcement entered your vehicle or home illegally, then that means any evidence they found there is not valid.
If necessary, we’ll consult with expert witnesses and conduct depositions to get testimonies from eyewitnesses. We’re fierce trial lawyers, so you can expect us to aggressively defend you in court against all of the accusations you face.
Our team will work tirelessly to introduce doubt into the prosecution’s case in an effort to help you avoid the worst penalties.
Hire Experienced and Aggressive Criminal Defense Attorneys in San Diego
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed and hopeless if you’ve been charged with a crime as serious as assault and battery. It’s essential not to despair but to act quickly by hiring attorneys who can fight for your freedom and future.
At Elite Criminal Defense, we bring decades of experience to the table. From the moment you contact us, you’ll be treated with the respect and compassion you deserve, so don’t hesitate to call our team the moment you’re arrested.
Contact us at Elite Criminal Defense to speak with one of our California criminal defense attorneys about your case.
