Baltimore Assault on an Officer Charges
An assault is a harmful or offensive un-consented to contact with the added element that the individual that you assaulted or allegedly assaulted was an officer. The reason it is a higher level crime than a basic assault is that an officer is a person of authority, and citizens are required to submit to the authority of the officer when they are acting lawfully in the scope of their duties. With this in mind, a conviction for assault on an officer charges can carry severe penalties making it important that a Baltimore assault lawyer is contacted right away to begin building a defense.
How This Offense Occurs
Generally speaking, when you deal with an assault on an officer, the vast majority of times that incident arises is when an officer is attempting to arrest somebody and the person fights the officer back. When they fight and resist, it is like resisting arrest. Resisting arrest is defined as attempting to prevent the arrest by pulling away, but assaulting officers if they push you or try to grab you and you hit them or you shove them back, that is not merely resisting that is actually assaulting them.
With that said, it is also important to note that police officers are not the only individuals who can lead to this charge. There are some other individuals that do qualify—usually first responders as well as police officers, firefighters, rescue squad, first emergency techs, and people trying to provide a medical aid that can all be considered an ‘officer’ even if they are not technically police.
A firefighter cannot arrest somebody, but they are helping in the same standard because again it is the public service they provide. A judge outside the courtroom, they are not providing a public service in that respect, but a firefighter or a rescue squad, first responders, those in an emergency, because of the dangerous nature of what they do and the high level of protection that they have, an assault of such members is considered the same thing.
Severity of APO Charges
Even a basic second-degree assault of a citizen is 10 years incarceration, therefore, with an officer, it is an aggravating factor that will only make the situation worse. The actual sentence is still the same maximum; it is still 10 years of incarceration, but the fine potentially doubles from $2,500.00 to $5,000.00, and is considered a felony offense.
Building a Defense
There are a number of defenses that may be available in a Baltimore assault on an officer case. For one, an attorney can question the definition of assault, as frequently you will have someone charged with assault on an officer when in actuality they were just resisting arrest. Their arms are being grabbed and they are just spinning around trying to prevent the officer in grabbing their hand. Sometimes using these types of factors can mitigate this offense down.