Assault with a Weapon Laws

Assault with a deadly weapon is an aggravated assault in which a person controlling a deadly weapon intimidates another person with serious bodily injury or even death. An assault with a deadly weapon is a felony offense despite of the actual injuries or harm caused to the victim. This type of offense is a felony for the reason that the use of the weapon, which is normally anything excluding a firearm. The weapon may be any object or instrument, and in some cases can even be any part of the body. In some states, if you hit someone with a vehicle it can be classified as an assault with a deadly weapon in which the vehicle itself becomes the weapon. And, in some jurisdictions, force sufficient to result in severe physical injury is comparable to a deadly weapon, for instance a black eye.

An assault with a deadly weapon arises when a person is submitted to fear of bodily harm. As a matter of fact, the harm or injury does not have to take place, however if it does, the charge may be changed to assault and battery, which means contact took place even if no injury did. A deadly weapon can apparently involve knives and firearms, although even ordinarily innocent items or objects such as a ballpen, a bottle, or a fork, can be regarded as a deadly weapon if it has the capacity to cause harm and/or injury. Due to the fact it causes fear, even using an unloaded gun, can fall into this category.  Although not usually deadly weapons, hand and feet can be used for kicking or biting a person, which in turn can be sufficient for a charge of assault with a deadly weapon due to kicking and biting may result in grave bodily injury.

A person charged with assault will frequently be charged with a felony, but contingent on the weapon and the jurisdiction the charge may be a misdemeanor. Fines ranging from five hundred dollars to one million dollars or probation of several months to multiple years are can be placed on a person convicted of assault with a deadly weapon. Imprisonment includes several months or up to twenty five years or more. An assault with a deadly weapon conviction may even lead to lifetime imprisonment in states where they have enacted the three strikes and you are out law.

Assault with Deadly Weapon Penalties

There is a rather large range of possible penalties that the court can consider in assault with a deadly weapon charges. These penalties are often contingent on the actual severe bodily harm that were inflicted or may have been inflicted on the person during the offense. Previous records of assault or violent crimes are also taken into account.

• Jail or prison time
• Probation
• Parole
• House arrest
• Fines/Compensation/Restitution
• Suspension or loss of drivers license – if a vehicle is the weapon, vehicle may also be impounded
• Loss of the ability to own or possess a firearm or weapon
• Loss of some constitutional rights and/or permanent arrest and conviction mark on record
• Court ordered drug and alcohol counseling or anger management classes
• Community Service