Greenwich Second-Degree Assault Lawyer

Second-degree assault is when somebody has the intention of causing serious physical injury to another person and then they act on it and do actually cause serious physical injury to that other person. It is very similar to first-degree assault except that it does not have the additional aggravating circumstance, like the use of a deadly weapon, that would make an offense count as first-degree assault. Regardless, assault in the second-degree is a serious charge that could have various repercussions, which is why it is important to seek the services of a Greenwich second-degree assault lawyer, as soon as possible. A dedicated attorney could work to mitigate the penalties that a person may face and protect their rights.

The Role of Intent in a Second-Degree Assault

A person’s intent is one of the essential elements of the crime, meaning that regardless of what the other person’s injuries are, so even if the other person has a serious physical injury, the person charged with second-degree assault might have intended to accomplish a different result.

Intent is something that the state has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt and even if there is an intention to do some harm they have to prove that the intention was to do serious physical harm. If they do not, then there cannot be a conviction for second-degree assault.

Elements the Prosecution Must Prove

The prosecutor would have to prove the intent part of the crime and the actual physical act and the physical result. That means the prosecutor has to show that, for the intent part, the prosecutor has to prove that the person intended to commit or to inflict serious bodily injury.

The action that they have to prove is that the person took a voluntary action with the intent to commit serious bodily injury and then the result has to be that the person that was affected had to actually suffer serious bodily injury. If anyone of those three things is not shown or proved beyond a reasonable doubt, then the person charged with a second-degree assault would be found not guilty. A skilled Greenwich second-degree assault attorney could dispute these elements in order to strengthen a person’s case.

Evidence the Prosecution Would Use

The type of evidence the prosecutor would use is usually the testimony of one or more people that were either the victim of the assault or who witnessed it because they were standing near the assault when it took place or, more commonly these days, there is a videotape or a cell phone video of somebody videotaping the incident. The other types of evidence that they will look at are medical evidence, which will be needed by the state to prove that the injury is not just a physical injury, but a serious physical injury, meaning that it has a lasting detrimental effect to the person’s health and welfare.

Penalties for Assault in the Second Degree

Second-degree assault is a Class D Felony; that means that a person is facing up to five years in prison, up to three years of probation, and up to five thousand dollars in fines or any combination of those three. So, it is the same type of long-term consequences of dealing with felonies, but because of the severity or the classification of the crime, it is far lower, it is all the same potential consequences but just less of a lasting impact or a severe impact.

The second-degree conviction will still result in many lost opportunities for employment, many lost opportunities for licensure, and any other rights and opportunities that may be forfeited. So, they will just be fewer and they just may not last as long and also the stigma associated with it is far less concerning to the public at large and can probably be overcome with the passage of some time. A top second-degree assault attorney in Greenwich, CT could devote the time and resources necessary to mitigate the penalties that someone may face.

Let a Greenwich Second-Degree Assault Defense Attorney Help

A Greenwich second-degree assault lawyer should always look at the intent of the accused, in order to see whether they intended to cause harm, and to what degree. The other part a defense attorney should look at and use to try to defend the case is again the severity of the injury. An attorney could call in medical experts to see if the injury reached the level of serious bodily injury. A knowledgeable lawyer might also leverage a self-defense argument, was there a reason that the person charged with second-degree assault had the need to strike the other person in order to keep themselves safe? The only mitigating fact an attorney might want to look at is what potentially prompted the incident. The judge is less likely to punish somebody as severely if they felt that the thing that prompted the assault was more understandable.

If an individual has been charged with assault in the second-degree, they should contact a seasoned attorney that could use their knowledge to identify mitigating circumstances and defenses that best suit the person’s case. Consult with our team today, and know that you are in capable hands.