Prosecution of Rockville Assault Cases
Assault cases in Rockville are misdemeanor offenses or felony offenses depending on whether you are charged with a first degree assault or a second degree assault. When you are charged with an assault-related crime, you can expect that a prosecutor is going to move forward on those charges with a lot of support from their officers and with a great deal of force.
The reason is because unlike many other kinds of cases where perhaps the general public is only a victim, in assault cases there is an actual victim associated with the assault, whether it was criminal or non-criminal. There is somebody who might have suffered injuries and have bills for medical treatment. Since those victims are beyond the community in general, the prosecutors’ office has to move forward on these cases with more force than they would other cases that are considered non-violent in nature.
Due due to voracity with which prosecutors take on these cases, it will be very beneficial to someone’s defense to have a Rockville assault lawyer help them. A lawyer who has experience will be able to craft a strong defense and help guide their client throughout the process, should they have aspects they are unclear on.
How Rockville Courts Treat Assault
Assault cases are treated very seriously because they are violent criminal offenses. Assault in the second degree for example, is a misdemeanor but is probably one of the most serious misdemeanors in the State of Maryland. It carries a maximum penalty of ten years in jail and a maximum fine of $2500. This is very significant compared to other misdemeanors such as a DUI, or something like a solicitation of prostitution which only carries a maximum penalty of 12 months incarceration. Assault second degree charges can go all the way up to 10 years.
For more serious kinds of assault, which are assault first degree offenses that are felony offenses, there is the possibility of up to 25 years in prison. Due to the length of time associated with the maximum penalty on these charges, you can see how the legislature intended for them to be treated more seriously than other charges which are non-violent in nature. That is precisely the way that the court system and the State’s Attorney’s Office treat them. All cases of assault are treated very seriously in the area and people will likely face long-term imprisonment without an aggressive and experienced Rockville assault attorney.
Diversion or Alternative Sentencing Options
Generally speaking when it comes to felony assault cases there are no diversion programs available. For the most part when it comes to misdemeanor cases there are no diversion programs available either, on assault-related charges. In some unique circumstances a prosecutor might agree to the dismissal of a particular kind of assault charge in order for a defendant to complete anger management or some kind of community service. That happens in very rare circumstances where the prosecution is either having issues with their evidence, concerns about the credibility of their witnesses, or some other hurdle in the case.
Aggravating and Mitigating Factors in Rockville Assault Cases
Aggravating factors that might impact an assault case would include whether somebody has an injury as a result of the incident, how serious that injury was, and whether they had to seek any medical treatment for that injury. Whether that injury was deemed permanent or not could also be an aggravating factor. Additional things that might exacerbate an otherwise straightforward assault charge would be the circumstance of the victim, how old the victim was, and whether the victim suffered from any disabilities or was vulnerable in some other way that makes them more sympathetic to the court and more vulnerable in the community. Those circumstances would exacerbate an otherwise standard assault case.
Things that might mitigate a Rockville assault charge would be whether there was some kind of mutual involvement that might not establish a complete defense against the charge, but would at least show that the defendant was in some way provoked or led into the criminal act by the other party. Although responsible for his action, the other person’s involvement could explain to a degree why that situation arose. Other things that might mitigate an assault would be whether or not the victim wanted to press criminal charges against the other party. Because there are so many potential factors that could positively or negatively influence someone’s case, it is invaluable to have a knowledgeable assault lawyer in Rockville providing insight and guidance.
Most of the time Rockville prosecutors will make their own decision about whether to prosecute regardless of whether the victim wants to go forward on the charges. However, they always take the victim’s position into account in deciding whether they still wish to proceed on the criminal allegation before going forward with the charges.