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If you’ve been charged with assault in South Carolina, you’re facing a serious criminal charge that you should take seriously. Assault refers to causing someone else to be harmed, credibly threatening to cause someone else to be harmed, or causing someone else to believe that you’re going to harm them. An assault conviction carries jail time, serious fines, and challenging social consequences, and if you’ve been charged with assault, protecting your rights is key – reach out to an experienced Kingstree, SC, assault lawyer today.
Is It Assault?
The crime of assault can take many different forms in South Carolina, including both misdemeanors and felonies. While intentionally causing someone else to suffer physical harm is a clear example of assault, there is a lot more to the charge than that. In fact, all the following qualify as assault in the state:
- Threatening to harm someone else in a manner that makes them believe you
- Causing someone else to fear that you’ll harm them
- Touching someone else in a manner that you know or reasonably should know they will consider provocative or offensive – when you don’t have their consent to do so
In other words, assault charges can apply in more situations than you may realize, and the consequences can be quite dire. This is why it is important to have experienced counsel on your side.
The Assault Charge Against You
Assault charges are grouped according to severity, and the fines and penalties increase accordingly from simple assault and up.
Assault of a High and Aggravated Nature
If the person accused of assault caused their victim to suffer a very serious injury, they can face the charge of assault of a high and aggravated nature. This is also what’s known as a lesser and included offense of attempted murder charges.
Assault in the First Degree
If the person accused of assault did something that was likely to cause their victim to suffer serious bodily injury or death, they could face the charge of assault in the first degree. When someone commits assault during the commission of another crime, the assault charge can be enhanced to assault in the first degree. This charge also applies to the lewd and lascivious touching of a victim’s private parts without their consent.
Assault in the Second Degree
If the person accused of assault caused their victim to suffer moderate bodily injury, the charge is assault in the second degree, which also applies to lewd and lascivious touching of the victim’s private parts – whether under or over their clothing – without their permission.
Simple Assault
Simple assault is also called assault in the third degree, and it applies when the person accused of assault doesn’t have a weapon and doesn’t cause the victim to suffer a significant injury.
An Experienced Kingstree, SC, Assault Attorney Is Here for You
Cezar McKnight at The Law Offices of Cezar McKnight is a trusted Kingstree, SC, assault lawyer who cares about you and your case. To learn more about what we can do to help, please don’t wait to contact us online or call 843-374-4529 today.