What Constitutes Assault in Maryland Montgomery Lawyer?

Assault is defined as the act of a physical attack on someone else. In the state of Maryland, assault is done in three different ways.

The three ways are the following:

• The offender has committed battery;
• The offender attempted to commit battery; and
• The offender made a victim have fear from battery although it never happened to her/ him.

A battery is an actual contact in an attack. In most states in the United States of America, the attack may be considered as a felony or misdemeanor depending on the type of act of physical violence done. The punishment will depend on the felony class if the attack is considered as a felony or the misdemeanor class if the attack is considered as a misdemeanor.

A misdemeanor is a minor crime which is one step below a felony in ranking while a felony is a major crime which may punishable by death if need be depending on the type of crime.

In the state of Maryland, an attack cannot be considered as a class one felony which means that an attack cannot be punishable by death.

In the state of Maryland, there are two assault degrees for which define what punishment is given for the assault crime. A second-degree act of physical violence is a normal assault where a physical attack is done and causes severe pain to the victim but the offender did not indent to cause such pain. This degree of assault is considered as a misdemeanor in the state of Maryland. The punishment for such misdemeanor may be imprisonment for a period that may not exceed ten years and/ or a fine that may go up to but not exceed $2,500. A second-degree act of physical violence is only considered as a felony when it involves a federal officer. The punishment in such case is imprisonment for a period that may reach but not exceed ten years and/ or a fine that may go up to but not exceed $5,000. A first-degree assault is when the assault is either done by using a dangerous weapon such as a firearm or when the offender intentionally causes severe pain to a victim or attempts to do so. In such a case, the punishment is imprisonment for a period that may reach but not exceed 25 years. Assault to a child or infant is also considered as a misdemeanor and with a punishment similar to other second degree assaults which are considered as misdemeanors. The punishment in such case would be imprisonment for a period that may go up to but not exceed ten years and/ or a fine that may reach but not exceed $2,500.

In the state of Maryland, the offended party with an act of physical violence crime may hire a highly experienced lawyer in such cases. This lawyer will try to defend the offender in a number of ways.

These include but are not limited to the following:

• The attack was done to defend another person;
• The attack was done as an act of self-defense; and
• The attack was not intended.

The lawyer may try to minimize the punishment by proving that the assault was a second-degree assault and not the first degree.

If you need a Maryland Assault lawyer to help you with your criminal case in Maryland, call us at 888-437-7747. Our Maryland criminal defense attorneys can help you. C