Assault Charges

Question: What is the penalty for an assault charge?

Answer:

In Texas, a simple assault is assault not alleging family violence, an assault not alleging choking, an assault not alleging any sort of serious bodily injury, an assault not involving a weapon. If it’s an assault without those things, it is a simple assault and it’s a Class A misdemeanor. With a Class A misdemeanor, it’s highly likely if you have no criminal history that they’ll offer you a deferred adjudication, which if that’s all you can get, that’s better than a conviction. Usually on an assault case, there are usually parts or facts that the state doesn’t know. Very often, there’s self-defense. Very often, it’s a mutual combat type of situation. Usually, when somebody comes in on a simple assault case, I know more about the case than the prosecutor does, so we’ll sit down and talk. We’ll figure out a game plan, see if there’s a way to get somebody totally out of the charge. If so, we’ll go down that route. If not, we’ll try to resolve the case to the benefit of the client.