Fairfield Assault on an Officer Lawyer

An assault on an officer in Fairfield is any kind of physical injury to either a police officer, civil servant, or peace officer. It is still the same assault, but it does not need to be as serious of an injury. It can be described as assault in the third degree, which is unwanted touching. For example, if an officer tries to break up a fight and gets pushed, that is considered assault because it is unwanted touching, but no injury was really caused there.

Cases can be complicated, so it is important for those accused of assault on an officer to contact a skilled assault attorney right away. A Fairfield assault on an officer lawyer is going to be essential for someone facing charges as they can begin building a defense early on.

Case Classifications

Those described as protected individuals in these cases would include medical personnel. Whether or not a judge is included is uncertain, though anyone who is in a position to keep the peace could be included. This includes EMTs and firefighters. An example would be if medical personnel arrives when an officer gets involved to stop a fight or to break up an assault and they are in turn assaulted.

The defendant needs to know that they are assaulting a police officer or a peace officer. Off-duty police officers breaking up a fight and being assaulted in the process, has left individuals being charged with assaulting a police officer when they did not know they were a police officer. The State will try to teach an individual a lesson and charge them with the highest degree that they can. That defendant would need an experienced Fairfield assault on an officer attorney to prove they did not have requisite intent, and hopefully, they can get the charge dropped down.

Prosecution

The prosecutor tends to take these cases more seriously than typically assault cases. When a police officer testifies, they have a lot of credibility in court. Whatever they say is often always taken as the truth. The prosecutors tend to be more aggressive with these charges because they are trying to do right by the police officer and what the officer is reporting is usually very strong evidence.

In Fairfield, an assault on an officer law violation is classified as a Class C Felony which comes with up to 10 years in jail, a fine of up to $10,000, and a period of probation if the person is convicted or pleads guilty.

Potential Defenses

Self-defense in Fairfield assault on an officer cases can be shown on the body cameras. These are sometimes an awkward defense, but if an individual is in a fight, trying to defend themselves against another person and the police officer gets involved, the individual was only involved in the fight because they were defending themselves and not the initial aggressor. If the individual did not have intent to assault the police officer, their defense could be that they were trying to remove themselves from the situation.

Police body cameras tend to be very strong evidence, either in favor of the defense or the prosecution. If the police body camera shows the defendant backing away, trying to get out of the situation, it would be good evidence for the defense that this person did not intend to assault anyone. Sometimes, the body camera will show that it was self-defense. Other times, the police camera can show that the person did attack a police officer, and that would be good for the prosecution. When investigating a case and utilizing evidence, an assault on an officer attorney in Fairfield is essential.

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