Assaultive Crimes are extremely common in local courts. While they all stem from the same basic behavior – putting someone in fear of imminent bodily harm or actually harming them – there are several different levels of assaultive crimes. Depending on what assaultive crime you or a loved one is charged with, you could be facing a simple misdemeanor without any jail time or a felony that could result in life in prison. A good defense attorney knows the difference not only in the potential punishment, but in how to defend each type of assault charge as well.
Assault and Battery (A&B)
Assault and Battery is the least severe assault charge in Michigan. A&B is a misdemeanor that carries a maximum possible penalty of 93 days in jail.
Many people charged with Assault and Battery are confused by the charge if they never actually hit anyone. How could they assault someone without touching them? Well, in Michigan an assault is any act that would cause a reasonable person to fear an immediate violent or offensive touching. That means that in Michigan, you can assault someone without ever making contact with their body. Prosecutors can also charge A&B when an accused person allegedly does make contact with the body of the complaining witness.
Because prosecutors have so much leeway when deciding whether they believe someone committed an assault, A&B charges are common. Prosecutor’s offices have efficient systems in place to try to get accused individuals to plead on A&B cases so they can get another file off of their desks. Thankfully, there are many ways a good defense attorney can help you fight against an A&B charge. Almost all A&B charges require a cooperative complaining witness. This means that A&B cases are strong candidates for trial because the case could be dismissed if the complaining witness does not appear to testify.
If you are facing an Assault and Battery charge, you need an experienced attorney who knows which cases are worth taking to trial and which require plea negotiations. KBW Criminal Law’s founding attorney, Kevin, has handled hundreds of assaultive cases and has even won at trial on A&B charges. To get a strong, experienced advocate on your side, call KBW Criminal Law as soon as possible.
Assault and Infliction of Serious Injury (Aggravated Assault)
In Michigan, Aggravated Assault is also a misdemeanor charge. It carries a maximum possible penalty of 365 days in jail.
Unlike A&B charges, prosecutors charging Aggravated Assault must prove that the accused person caused a serious or aggravated injury to the complaining witness. A serious or aggravated injury is a physical injury that requires immediate medical treatment or that causes disfigurement, impairment of health, or impairment of a part of the complaining witness’s body. Generally, prosecutors interpret the term “serious or aggravated injury” broadly, and it could include injuries such as cuts, bruises, or burns.
Like A&B charges, however, Aggravated Assault charges also rely heavily on a complaining witness’s testimony for the prosecution to succeed. Just like with A&B trials, there is a strong chance the judge will dismiss the case if the complaining witness does not appear to testify. Aggravated Assault trials also open the door for good defense lawyer to argue to the jury about the type of injury the complaining witness sustained. While the prosecution may believe that a scrape or bruise is a serious injury, a strong trial attorney may be able to convince the jury that the complaining witness’s injury does not rise to that level. When facing a year in jail, don’t leave your Aggravated Assault defense in the hands of just anyone. Call KBW Criminal Law’s founding attorney, Kevin, to hire an advocate with experience trying assaultive charges.
Assault with a Dangerous Weapon (Felonious Assault or FA)
Assault with a Dangerous Weapon is an aptly named crime because it requires the prosecutors prove the accused used a dangerous weapon. It is sometimes called felonious assault because it is the first type of assault that carries a maximum penalty of more than one year in prison, making it a felony. The maximum possible penalty for FA is four years in prison.
Prosecutors have a great deal of discretion in deciding what constitutes a “dangerous weapon” when they charge felonious assault. Some weapons are inherently dangerous, like a pistol. Other “weapons” that prosecutors use to charge felonious assault, like a ketchup bottle, leave room for a good defense attorney to argue to a jury that the assault was not a felony, but is more likely Aggravated Assault or Assault and Battery. To get your best chance at getting a felony assault charge dismissed or reduced to a misdemeanor, you need to hire a defense attorney like KBW Criminal Law’s founding attorney, Kevin, who has handled countless felonious assault cases.
Assault with Intent to do Great Bodily Harm (GBH)
Assault with Intent to do Great Bodily Harm Less Than Murder is a ten-year felony in Michigan. Prosecutors charging GBH have the difficult task of proving intent – that the accused person actually intended to cause the complaining witness great bodily harm when they committed the assault. A person’s subjective intent can be difficult for the prosecution to prove.
A good defense attorney knows how to ask questions of the government’s witnesses to insert reasonable doubt as to what an accused person was truly intending to do. For example, did the accused person intend to simply scare the complaining witness? Or perhaps the accused person believed they were acting in self-defense and intended only to act only so they could run away. The wrong defense attorney may not think about all the possible intentions that could lead an accused person to act the way they did.
Prosecutors could also charge GBH under a second theory, if the assault was committed by strangulation or suffocation. For this version, prosecutors still have to prove intent, but they have to prove actual strangulation or suffocation as well. Both of these elements present a good defense attorney with many opportunities to poke holes in the prosecution’s case.
When you are facing ten years in prison, you want to hire a lawyer who has experience both negotiating pleas for the charge you are facing, and handling trials with that charge. KBW Criminal Law’s founding attorney, Kevin, has handled innumerable GBH pleas and has gone to trial on both theories of GBH. To increase your chances of a favorable plea bargain or an acquittal on GBH, call KBW Criminal Law as early as possible.
Assault with Intent to Murder (AWIM)
Assault with Intent to Murder is the most serious assaultive crime in Michigan. The maximum punishment for AWIM is life in prison. Like with GBH, the most challenging element of AWIM that the prosecution must prove is intent – that the accused person actually intended to murder the complaining witness when they committed the assault. A person’s subjective intent can be difficult for the prosecution to prove.
Because of the intent element, the defense strategy for a AWIM case depends greatly on the mindset of the jurors and therefore the location of the trial. For example, jurors in an urban area like Detroit are much more likely to have seen violent behavior in their city than jurors in a less populated area like Sault Saint Marie. Where a Detroit juror may see an Aggravated Assault, an Upper Peninsula juror may believe that the accused intended to kill someone. Some jurors believe any time someone fires a gun, they intend to kill. Other jurors see things differently, and can acquit even if a bullet enters a body.
With such a great variation in opinion, you need to hire a lawyer who has handled AWIM cases before and is prepared for any scenario. Unlike many defense attorneys, KBW Criminal Law’s founder, Kevin, has actually taken an AWIM case to trial. As a former prosecutor, Kevin knows the ins and outs of handling an AWIM prosecution and will put his insider knowledge to work for you – defending your rights to the fullest extent.