Wednesday, November 25, 2015

The Different Types of Assault Charges in BC

There are a number of different assault charges that can be issued to a defendant and familiarizing yourself with them is a smart move, if you believe a charge may be brought against you for your previous actions.

If you do face an assault charge, the best advice is to contact a reputable criminal lawyer who has experience in defending assault charges, or similar offences.

Although an assault charge usually involves the physical contact of one person on another, such as a punch or a kick, there doesn’t necessarily have to be contact involved for you to be charged.

An assault charge, as listed in section 265, is defined when:

(1) A person commits an assault when

(a) without the consent of another person, he applies force intentionally to that other person, directly or indirectly;

(b) he attempts or threatens, by an act or a gesture, to apply force to another person, if he has, or causes that other person to believe on reasonable grounds that he has, present ability to effect his purpose; or

(c) while openly wearing or carrying a weapon or an imitation thereof, he accosts or impedes another person or begs.

Defending the charge with a criminal lawyer

A criminal lawyer would then try to disprove one, two or each of these points in order for the case to be dismissed, while the prosecution would seek to prove them in order to gain a conviction.

It is also important to note that evidence of an injury is not required to be convicted of an assault, therefore a scenario such as a light push can result in an assault conviction.

What to do if you are facing an assault charge?

The first thing to do is to speak to a criminal lawyer who specializes in these types of cases, and to listen to the advice that they provide.

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