San Diego Criminal Defense Lawyer Explains Assault Laws in California:
California Penal Code § 240 defines an assault as an “unlawful attempt, coupled with a present ability, to commit a violent injury” on someone else. A simple assault, under California law, is widely misunderstood.
What is the Difference Between Assault and Battery?
Assault and battery are commonly used together when speaking of one crime, but they are not one crime. An assault is an attempt to commit a battery. A battery requires actual physical contact with another person, but an assault does not require any physical contact at all.
How Do Prosecutors Prove I Committed an Assault?
According to the California Criminal Jury Instructions, in order to prove that you are guilty of committing a simple assault, the prosecutor must prove four elements:
- You committed an act that, by its very nature, would directly and probably result in the application of force upon another person.
Explanation: “Application of force” is a legal term that means you touched someone else in a harmful or offensive way. To apply force does not require that you hurt someone physically, or cause pain or injury. In fact, the slightest touch, as long as it is offensive or rude, would suffice.
Notice also that an assault can be committed even if you did not actually touch someone else. The law only requires that you acted in a way that would probably have resulted in you touching someone else in an offensive manner. - You acted willfully.
Explanation: You acted willfully if you meant to act in the way you did; you acted that way willingly or on purpose. - You should have realized at the time you acted that your actions would be harmful or offensive to the other person.
Explanation: The prosecutors need not prove that you intended to apply force on another person or that you intended to touch the person in a harmful way. - When you acted, you had the present ability to touch the person in a harmful or offensive way.
How Do I Defend Myself Against Assault Charges?
You can defend yourself against California assault charges by showing that the prosecutors have insufficient evidence to prove any one of the four elements above. For example, if you can show that you did not have ability to apply force to the alleged complainant at the time of the incident, you should prevail in your case.
Likewise, if you can prove that your act would not be harmful or offensive to the other person, you should also prevail. By way of example, if you sneak up behind your wife in public and pinch her rear-end, one might reasonably assume this is appropriate (or at least not criminal) behavior. On the other hand, if you do that to a complete stranger, chances are that butt-pinch would be considered offensive and rude. The point is that it is appropriate to look at the relationship and past behavior between you and the person who filed the complaint against you.
What Types of Assault are there?
There are many types of assault. California law punishes different types of assault differently. This article discusses simple assault. Other kinds of assault include:
- Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child1
- Assault by Conditional Threat
- Assault Causing the Death of a Child2
- Assault Committed on School or Park Property3
- Assault on a Custodial Officer4
- Assault on a Firefighter or Peace Officer5
- Assault on a Juror6
- Assault on a School District Peace Officer7
- Assault on a School Employee8
- Assault on Military Personnel9
- Assault with a Deadly Weapon10
- Assault with Intent to Commit Mayhem or a Sexual Offense11
When Does a Prosecutor Bring Assault Charges?
Prosecutors have discretion as to when to file assault charges or not. They are perhaps most common in domestic violence scenarios and low level sexual assault cases. Even then, often assault charges are not originally filed. Rather, simple assault might be offered by the prosecutors as a deal in order to resolve a case where other charges were formally brought against you.
What is the Sentence and Punishment for Assault?
Simple assault is a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of $1,000 and up to 6 months in the county jail12 . Instead of jail time, most of the time a sentence for simple assault will involve the imposition of informal probation (also known as summary probation) to the court for a period of 1 year to 3 years. During this time, the term of 6 months in jail is hanging over your head. If you violate probation, you still face going to jail for the full 6 months. If you keep your nose clean, you have nothing to worry about.
If you have been charged with assault, you would be very wise to hire a lawyer who will do everything possible to get your case dismissed. You and your lawyer should work together for the best outcome. To speak with us about how we can help you fight these charges, please call us right away or send us an email.
1Penal Code § 269
2Penal Code § 273ab
3Penal Code § 241.2
4Penal Code § 241.1
5Penal Code § 241(c)
6Penal Code § 241.7
7Penal Code § 241.4
8Penal Code § 241.6
9Penal Code § 241.8
10Penal Code § 245(a)(1)
11Penal Code § 220
12Penal Code § 220