Assault Lawyer in Kansas City, Missouri

Assault Lawyer in Kansas City, MO

Assault charges can cover a wide range of violent acts directed toward someone else. If convicted of assault, you could face years in prison and a felony criminal record.

Combs Waterkotte has handled countless criminal cases involving serious charges like assault. We can raise targeted defenses to these charges to shield you from the consequences of a criminal conviction.

What Does Assault Mean Under Missouri Law?

Criminal assault is a much broader offense than it might initially seem. The police can arrest you for assault (and prosecutors may pursue a conviction) whenever an alleged victim claims that you used or threatened to use unlawful force against them.

The investigation typically begins when someone contacts the police during or after a physical altercation. However, contrary to what you may have seen in movies, prosecutors don’t need the victim to “press charges.” Officers can arrest you for assault if their investigation gives them probable cause to suspect unlawful force.

You could be arrested even if eyewitnesses give conflicting stories, or you have legal justifications for your actions. A qualified assault lawyer can challenge witness accounts and present affirmative defenses after the arrest, during plea negotiations, and at trial.

Missouri Statutes Covering Assault Offenses in Kansas City, MO

As a preliminary matter, the Missouri Revised Statutes define assault and domestic assault in separate sections. Domestic assault charges are brought when violence is directed toward a family or household member, such as an ex-spouse or romantic partner.

Assault charges, meanwhile, apply whenever violence is directed at anyone other than a family or household member. They could be brought in any such situation, regardless of whether the accused and the alleged victim knew each other before the incident.

The primary exception where assault charges might not apply to a situation involving violence occurs when the victim is under 18. In these cases, prosecutors might pursue child abuse charges instead of assault or domestic assault charges.

First-Degree Assault in Kansas City

In Missouri, the crime of assault is categorized into four separate degrees. First-degree assault charges may be filed when the accused allegedly performed any of the following actions:

• Attempted to kill
• Attempted to cause serious physical injury
• Knowingly caused serious physical injury

Under Missouri law, an attempt requires a substantial step toward committing the offense. In other words, an attempt to kill or cause serious physical injury requires more than a threat—it requires action.

For example, a driver doesn’t attempt to kill a pedestrian by yelling “I’ll kill you” in anger. However, they might attempt to kill or seriously injure the pedestrian by jumping the curb while swerving toward them.

Serious physical injury occurs when an injury meets any of the following conditions:

• Creates a substantial risk of death
• Causes serious disfigurement
• Causes protracted loss or impairment of a body part

For example, a broken arm could be a “serious physical injury” because the arm will be in a cast for six to eight weeks.

“Knowingly” means the defendant was aware that their actions were practically certain to cause the prohibited result. To seek a first-degree assault conviction, prosecutors could show that the defendant was practically certain that stabbing the victim with a broken wine bottle would cause a serious physical injury.

Second-Degree Assault in Kansas City

Second-degree assault charges may be filed when the accused commits any of the following actions:

• Attempts to kill under sudden passion arising from adequate cause
• Knowing causes serious physical injury under sudden passion arising from adequate cause
• Attempts to seriously injure under sudden passion arising from adequate cause
• Attempts to cause or causes physical injury with a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument
• Recklessly causes physical injury
• Recklessly causes physical injury by discharging a firearm

The law generally treats acts committed under sudden passion as less culpable than those that are plotted dispassionately.

“Sudden passion” means emotional upset arising directly from provocation by the victim or someone acting with the victim at the time of the offense. “Adequate cause” means a provocation that would cause an ordinary person’s self-control to become impaired.

For instance, a defendant might claim sudden passion for striking a victim who admitted that they molested the victim’s child.

Third-Degree Assault in Kansas City

Third-degree assault happens when someone knowingly causes physical injury to someone else. Physical injury includes any injury, however slight, that impairs any function or use of a body part.

Fourth-Degree Assault in Kansas City

Fourth-degree assault covers the following acts:

• Attempting to cause or recklessly causing physical injury, pain, or illness
• Negligently causing physical injury with a firearm
• Purposely causing another person to feel apprehension of immediate physical injury
• Recklessly creating a substantial risk of death or serious injury
• Knowingly causing or attempting to cause offensive or provocative physical contact with a disabled person
• Knowingly causing or attempting to cause offensive or provocative physical contact

These acts have a few notable characteristics. First, prosecutors can pursue charges even if no injury or physical contact occurred. Simply causing fear of immediate physical injury can constitute fourth-degree assault. Pointing an unloaded gun at someone could meet this definition.

Second, prosecutors don’t need to prove harm for a fourth-degree assault conviction. They can simply show that the contact was offensive or provocative. Shoving someone during an argument might qualify as fourth-degree assault, even if they suffered no bruising, pain, or injury.

Third, this offense includes injuries from gun negligence. Criminal negligence means the defendant failed to meet the level of care expected of reasonable people. As such, tossing a loaded gun to someone might result in fourth-degree assault charges if an accidental discharge injures them.

Defenses Against Assault Charges in Kansas City, MO

A skilled assault lawyer can tailor a criminal defense strategy to the particular facts of your case. Their strategy may involve raising the following defenses.

Self-Defense or Defense of Others

Your assault attorney may assert that your use of force was justified.

Missouri law allows you to use force to defend yourself or others against an imminent use of unlawful force. The standard for self-defense and defense of others is objective. Therefore, jurors must put themselves in your shoes and determine whether your actions and beliefs were reasonable under the circumstances.

In applying self-defense principles, jurors are allowed to consider Missouri’s “stand your ground” law. Under this principle, the defendant doesn’t have a legal duty to retreat if they’re lawfully present on the premises. For example, a driver can immediately use force, without retreating, if someone reaches into their car to grab them.

Lack of Intent

Your assault lawyer can also argue that you lacked the required state of mind to commit the charged offense.

For instance, first-degree assault requires prosecutors to prove that you knowingly caused serious physical injury. However, if you tripped and knocked an elderly person down in the process, your actions were accidental, meaning you lacked the intent to cause their injuries.

Punishments for Assault Convictions in Missouri

The penalties for an assault conviction depend on the degree of the conviction, the victim’s identity, and the defendant’s criminal history.

Missouri’s assault statutes increase the sentencing level for assault by one or two levels if the victim is a “special victim,” a class that includes:

• On-duty law enforcement officers
• On-duty emergency personnel, firefighters, medical personnel, or EMTs
• On-duty probation and parole officers
• On-duty corrections officers
• Elderly people
• Disabled people
• Vulnerable people
• Highway workers in construction or work zones
• Utility, cable, and mass-transit workers performing their job duties

First-degree assault is normally treated as a Class B felony. However, the offense is punishable as a Class A felony if the conviction resulted from an attack that seriously injured a special victim.

Additionally, Missouri imposes enhanced penalties for defendants who have a history of assault convictions. Prior assault offenders have at least one prior assault conviction at any time. The sentencing level for prior assault offenders increases by one level.

Persistent assault offenders have at least two prior assault convictions within the preceding 10 years. The sentencing level for persistent assault offenders increases by two levels.

The base sentencing levels for assault, before any special victim or prior assault conviction enhancements, are as follows: