Have you or someone you know been arrested for Aggravated Assault in Pennsylvania also known as Felony Assault? It is important that you contact an Attorney right away as you are at risk of going to prison for years, with thousands in fines, and other life changing complications that could follow you for the rest of your life. This charge is a Felony and is considered a violent crime that usually involves serious bodily injury, there are different levels of Felony, but all of them include the possibility of going to state prison. District Attorneys and the police aggressively pursue these charges because they are at the felony level, thus it is important that you hire an experienced criminal defense attorney as soon as possible.
Aggravated assault is:
- An attempt to cause serious bodily injury to another, or causes such injury intentionally, knowingly or recklessly under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life;
- Or attempt to cause or intentionally, knowingly or recklessly causes serious bodily injury to any of the officers, agents, employees or other persons enumerated in subsection (c) or to an employee of an agency, company or other entity engaged in public transportation, while in the performance of duty;
- Or attempts to cause or intentionally, knowingly or recklessly causes serious bodily injury to a child less than 13 years of age, by a person 18 years of age or older.
These are the three most serious possible charges of Aggravated Assault in Pennsylvania as they are all graded as Felonies of the First Degree, which means that they are punishable up to 20 years in prison and with fines up to $25,000.
The next set of circumstances that can cause a charge of Aggravated Assault in Pennsylvania are:
- Attempts to cause or intentionally or knowingly causes bodily injury to any of the officers, agents, employees or other persons enumerated in subsection (c), in the performance of duty (there is a very long list for this);
- Or attempts to cause or intentionally or knowingly causes bodily injury to another with a deadly weapon; or attempts to cause or intentionally or knowingly causes bodily injury to a teaching staff member, school board member or other employee, including a student employee, of any elementary or secondary publicly-funded educational institution, any elementary or secondary private school licensed by the Department of Education or any elementary or secondary parochial school while acting in the scope of his or her employment or because of his or her employment relationship to the school;
- Or attempts by physical menace to put any of the officers, agents, employees or other persons enumerated in subsection (c), while in the performance of duty, in fear of imminent serious bodily injury;
- Or uses tear or noxious gas as defined in section 2708(b) (relating to use of tear or noxious gas in labor disputes) or uses an electric or electronic incapacitation device against any officer, employee or other person enumerated in subsection (c) while acting in the scope of his employment;
- Or attempts to cause or intentionally, knowingly or recklessly causes bodily injury to a child less than six years of age, by a person 18 years of age or older.
These circumstances would result is a grading of a Felony of the second degree in Pennsylvania which means that you would be facing the possibility of going to jail for up to 10 years and face a fine of up to $25,000.
As you can see who you are alleged to have harmed, and how they claim you harmed them, makes a very serious difference in the possible charges. No matter at what level you are charged at you are facing very serious charges that will have a life changing impact on you and your family if you are convicted. I cannot stress enough how important it is to contact an experienced firm right away to help you with these types of charges. You might think you are trying to help by talking to the police but end up accidentally incriminate yourself. Even if you think you are doing the right thing by talking to the police or helping them you could be hurting your ability win these charges and thus be facing the possibility of going to state prison for many years.
It is extremely important to contact an experienced law firm right away if you or someone you know is charged with Aggravated Assault in Pennsylvania. If you, your son, daughter, or loved one in Pennsylvania has been arrested for a crime in state or federal court in Pennsylvania you need legal representation. Here at Manchester and Associates, we represent people across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. For a free consultation we can be contacted at 1-800-243-4878.