According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation report, aggravated assault fell by 12.5% within the first three months and by 8.1% for the first six months of 2024. Despite the predicted receding number of violence, the fact remains that aggravated assaults have remained one of the main types of violence, declining by only 3.0% from last year.
There can be a whole bunch of reasons why a person might end up being charged with assault. It can pop up from domestic arguments, a bar fight, road rage incidents, work-related trouble, and more. But what is the difference between assault and felonious assault in Ohio and other state laws?
Let’s learn what assault is and how to protect your rights in this situation.
How Assault Is Legally Defined
At common law, assault was framed as an intentional behavior that gets a reasonable person to feel an imminent, harmful, or insulting contact. Battery is the actual landing of that harmful contact. Many states keep that split, so they file assault for the threats or for an attempted touching, while battery tracks the completed physical encounter.
Yet other jurisdictions fuse the offenses, and they call it “assault” for both the threatening behavior and the real touching. Still other places define assault so it needs physical contact, and for the non-contact situation, they may label it an attempted attack or use “menacing” for the threatening conduct.
These classifications have a major impact on the case. There are instances where the same act can constitute an offense of assault, attempted assault, or menacing based on the particular state.
Understanding their statutory definition is important when discussing punishment or defense.
Simple Assault vs. Aggravated Assault: The Classification That Drives Penalties
Misdemeanors form one of the ways through which simple assault cases are resolved, and they are associated with penalties such as an almost sure one-year imprisonment along with some financial punishment. The range may differ across states, but it depends very much on the prior history of the defendant.
In many jurisdictions, a first-time offender is charged with a Class A or 1 misdemeanor offense where the incarceration period ranges from a few months to up to one year, while fines are set from several hundred to even a few thousand, depending on the particular circumstances involved in the offense. On the other hand, alternative punishments like probation or community service may be provided for the first-time offenders instead of jail.
Aggravated assault is normally almost always charged as a felony under the law. The conversion from simple to aggravated takes place based on criteria such as possession or use of a deadly weapon, inflicting serious bodily harm, or the status or position of the victim being an older person, a child, or a police officer, among others; such circumstances tend to bump up simple assault into aggravated assault.
Other situations may include the commission of the assault during the commission of another felony. Thus, an ordinary altercation in the streets could end up as aggravated assault by virtue of displaying a weapon without touching the other party physically.
When discussing punishments,
Punishments for aggravated assault charges can range from one to several years of state imprisonment for lower felony classification. But they can rise to up to 20 years or more for first-degree or Class A felony aggravated assault, particularly if serious bodily injury accompanies the charge.
Domestic Violence Assault: A Separate Legal Framework
According to Cayll Law, PLLC, any violence that occurs between family members or members of the same household potentially qualifies as domestic violence. Domestic violence assault cases also come with mandatory arrest requirements in most states.
When law enforcement shows up to a domestic call and finds probable cause, arrest is supposed to happen, even if the alleged victim says they don’t want anything filed or if they won’t cooperate. So, that “don’t proceed” wish from the complaining witness really does not end the situation. The prosecution can still push forward and often does, even with the alleged victim objecting.
In case someone gets convicted of domestic violence assault under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9), the Lautenberg Amendment, it turns into a permanent firearms restriction under federal law. This is an order that stays forever. In short, convicted person is basically barred from possessing firearms or ammo.
Even a misdemeanor domestic violence conviction from decades ago still blocks firearm possession now. This ban can also catch law enforcement officers, military personnel, and basically anyone else with a job that comes with carrying guns, so in practice a domestic violence conviction can be career-ending for those roles.
In domestic violence assault cases, protective orders are pretty routinely put in place, like both the emergency one issued at or shortly after arrest and then the final protective orders that get entered after everything’s resolved.
Breaking a protective order is its own separate criminal offense, and usually it’s treated as a misdemeanor for that first violation, then becomes a felony if it happens again. Also, any contact with the protected person counts, even if it’s at the protected party’s invitation, and that can lead to extra prosecution for the defendant.
Self-Defense: The Most Common and Most Misunderstood Defense
The law on self-defense is one of the defenses in cases where a defendant is accused of committing assault, meaning they can employ any kind of force if there is a reasonable belief that such action is needed to avert any impending unlawful attacks.
Many jurisdictions require an individual to make a safe retreat where it can be done before resorting to the use of force. Nevertheless, more than 30 states have stand-your-ground statutes that abolish this requirement whenever one is present lawfully. In some states, for instance, Florida, a defendant may have the case dismissed through a pretrial hearing on immunity.
Defense of another follows almost all the rules regarding self-defense, but only in cases where the accused reasonably thinks that the third party is likely to suffer imminent harm unlawfully. Consenting can also serve as an affirmative defense only in some instances where people agree to certain physical contact, but it will never apply in cases involving severe harm or death.
Collateral Consequences of Assault Convictions
Apart from the sentence, an assault charge, particularly a felony assault charge, is associated with a number of consequences that might affect one’s ability to obtain housing, gainful employment, acquire professional licenses, and even obtain immigration clearance. Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), the firearm prohibition holds true whenever one is convicted of an offense that carries a sentence exceeding one year, and felony assault qualifies for this.
In licensing matters for professionals in healthcare, education, legal practice, and security, boards often require the disclosure of violent crime convictions, and more often than not, they are subject to disciplinary action, including license revocation or denial. Deportation proceedings may also be triggered if noncitizens commit violent crimes resulting in incarceration for a year or more.
On the other hand, simple misdemeanor assault convictions do not always result in the same broad range of consequences. Still, they often show up in background check databases, they are searchable by employers, and they can trigger the Lautenberg firearms prohibition if the assault involved domestic violence, even if it’s labeled a misdemeanor.
Expungement may be possible in some states after a waiting period with no new conviction, but it’s not available everywhere and not for every assault offense type. Whether expungement is an option in the specific state and for the specific charge should be checked as part of the overall case resolution plan.
