Building a Defense Against Spotyslvania County Assault Charges

Spotsylvania assault charges are serious offenses that can result in extensive penalties and consequences. With that said, an experienced assault attorney can build a defense against an assault charge in Spotsylvania by trying to predict what the prosecution is going to present and provide solid evidence against that.

It involves figuring out ways to cross-examine the alleged victim effectively to show that the victim is not truthful and to contradict the police officer’s observation in a case. It is important to work with an attorney as soon as possible to maintain a positive outcome in your case.

Potential Penalties

The penalties associated with assault in Spotsylvania are up to 12 months in jail and/or up to a $2,500 fine if it is charged as a misdemeanor offense. Assault charges can lead to enhanced penalties if there are any aggravating factors associated with them, like some kind of weapon involved, or a special relationship between the individual that is accused and the accuser.

Diversion Programs

For assault and battery in Spotsylvania, there is a two-year deferment program offered for first-time offenders program in which somebody does anger management. At the end of two years, if they do not get in trouble again and complete their anger management, attorneys will be dismissed. That is something usually available for first offenders, but a prosecution has to agree to that, so it depends on a person’s record.

Defense Approach

Often when somebody is arrested, there is a bias against any way that the story is told besides that person being at fault. A defense has to mitigate that bias by doing things like taking pictures of the defendant to show the defendant’s injuries, taking the statements of the defendant when it is fresh in their mind, and showing a drawing that for the house to get an exact location of where the individuals were in the location as well as any video camera or any layouts that can be drawn to give the court a clear picture of what did occur.

An attorney is going to do that to make absolutely clear what happened, especially in a situation where two people are choosing words about how it started. It is important to lock down movements, steps in areas, the location and which arm was used and where to defend against an assault and battery case. Defense attorneys can also look to witnesses involved with either one of the parties that may have been innocent bystanders.

Gathering Evidence

Sometimes tracking those people down is difficult when building a defense for Spotsylvania assault charges, but it can be done if it was at a store or a restaurant. Sometimes those places, even if they do not have videos, have client lists or receipt that can be used to track down some of the individuals that may have observed and will be able to testify as to what happened. Lawyers can start preparing a robust defense, starting with finding any videotape from nearby stores before that information is locked.

Self Defense

Self-defense is a separate strategy for a lawyer to defend. If a lawyer is going to go forward with a defense of self-defense, they have to personally commit to it as a defense strategy, because self-defense admits that there was actually an action on the part of the defendant.

For self-defense purposes, it is going to depend on the facts of the case and what happened as well as what action was taken in response and was it appropriate given the action that was taken or did the person go beyond what was the appropriate response. There are many ways that a defense attorney is going to look at self-defense to paint the picture the individual’s actions were appropriate in light of what happened.

Contacting an Attorney

It is important to retain an experienced assault attorney to build a defense against assault charges in Spotsylvania. Because assault and battery is not specifically defined in the Virginia code. A person needs an attorney who has knowledge of the case law that defines it as well as knowledge of how Spotsylvania courts treat assault and battery and what the judges are looking for to convict or acquit somebody.

A person needs an attorney with experience presenting the evidence favorably to the defendant while also cross-examining and taking apart the prosecution’s case and evidence. This is not something that an attorney can do if they have never tried an assault case before. Often it comes down to the smallest of action on the part of the defendant and that is something that the prosecution needs to be aware of and needs to have pushed at their case to break down a prosecution’s case and to correctly resolve the defendant’s case.