Assault Penalties

Michigan assault penalties can be anything from zero to 93 days in jail on a simple assault. For more serious assault crimes, it could get up to assault with intent to do great bodily harm, the penalty includes years in prison. Penalties range quite a bit from a minor assault up to the most severe assault.

When facing penalties for assault charges, contacting a distinguished assault lawyer may be vital to the future outcome of your case. A Michigan assault lawyer can discuss with you the type of consequences you may face based on the specific facts of your case.

Consequences and penalties can add up if the person had a prior criminal history of domestic violence. The first domestic violence charge would be a misdemeanor charge up to 93 days in jail. The second one gets raised to a one-year misdemeanor. It jumps from just 93 days to one year.

The third time, there is a conviction and if the person has had it twice and gets charged a third time, it is a felony. It becomes a five-year felony. That is a situation where having those in the past can increase the penalties from having other ones in the past.

Michigan assault penalties for an assaultive type crime might have a greater likelihood of getting jail time. Even though two different crimes are listed with the same maximum penalties, they may be treated more seriously because of the nature of the injuries.

All elements of the crime must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, which is a very high standard. In doing so, they must show that either an attempted battery or a battery happened or the person was placed in reasonable apprehension of immediate battery. The prosecution must show that there was intent with either assault or battery offenses.

It is important and there are a lot of potential defenses for the argument of intent. The intent side of things is always somewhat of a challenge for a prosecutor to show because there could be an accident and the person cannot have an accidental assault. There must be intent before determining the Michigan assault penalties.

When determining Michigan assault penalties there are different sorts of deferrals depending on the person's age, the facts of the case, the court, and the applicable statutes. In the case of domestic assault or domestic violence, there is also an important first offense program.

If a person is placed on what they call a deferral for domestic violence or domestic assault, it is a first-time conviction, and they complete a period of probation and usually anger management will also be ordered along the way, and if they comply, then if the court agrees ahead of time, this offense can sometimes come off the public record. Not having a public record of the conviction can be huge for future employment opportunities and lots of other different things. It is one of the very few things that Michigan law has for first-time offenses, but that is not guaranteed.

If what has happened to the person when on probation and they picked up a new charge or something else happened and the court decided to revoke that special status, it is the first-time deferral. It is not a guarantee, but if it is successfully completed, it is a very positive thing to have that not on your record in any way. That is a very important first defense program. The code for that is MCL Section 69.4a and it is an important statute.

The laws in Michigan, and the criminal justice court system more generally, are very intimidating and confusing things. Anyone involved in the system must have a lawyer. Due to the severity of the penalties in the situation, a person should contact an attorney.

If a person has an assaultive crime on their record that can lead to issues with losing the person's job or not be able to get a future job. Volunteer opportunities might not allow a person to serve, because of the assaultive crime on their record. For people who are not U.S. citizens, there could be potential immigration consequences, including deportation depending on the facts of the situation.

Having an attorney on a person's side who knows how to negotiate with prosecutors and knows how to try these cases can be essential minimizing the impact of Michigan assault penalties.