Assault and Battery Lawyer in St. Louis

Assault Laws in St. Louis and Missouri

Being charged with any violent crime is serious. Our assault and battery attorneys have the expertise and experience to get you the most favorable outcome.

Missouri law has four different degrees of assault charges, which accordingly have different levels of punishment. These are:

• Assault in the first degree (officially Missouri RS 565.050) is defined as when someone "attempts to kill or knowingly causes or attempts to cause physical injury to another person". This is a class B felony, punishable by 5 to 15 years in prison.
• Assault in the second degree (or MO RS 565.052) is when someone atempts to kill or cause serious harm "out of sudden passion arising out of adequate cause", causing or attempting to cause injury with a deadly weapon, recklessly causing injury to another person, or injuring another person after shooting off a firearm. This is a class D felony, which carries with it a punishment of no more than seven years in prison and a maximum $10,000 fine.
• Assault in the third degree (MO RS 565.064) is defined as when someone "knowingly causes physical injury to another person". This is a class E felony punishable by anywhere from one year in local jail to four years in prison. This can also be a "nested" lesser included offense within second-degree assault charges.
• Assault in the fourth degree (MO RS 565.056) is the much more traditional definition of "assault". This is defined as when someone:
  1. attempts to, or recklessly causes, physical injury, pain, or illness to another person
  2. causing physical injury to another person using a firearm with "criminal negligence", i.e. accidentally
  3. purposely places another person "in apprehension of immediate physical injury"
  4. recklessly engages in conduct that "creates a substantial risk of death or serious physical injury to another person
  5. knowingly causes or attempts to cause physical contact with a disabled person, in a way that a reasonable person who does not have a disability would consider "offensive or provocative"
  6. knowingly causes physical contact with another person fully aware that the other person will see it as provocative
  With the exception of sections 3 and 6 listed above, assault in the fourth degree is a class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and a maximum fine of $2,000. Sections 3 and 6, however, are seen as class C misdemeanors, with a maximum sentence of 15 days in jail and a fine of no more than $700.

Missouri law also increases the punishment if assault is committed against a "special victim". This category is outlined in MO RS 565.002 and consists of the following:

• First responders in the performance of their duties
• Probation/parole officers in the performance of their duties
• Elderly people
• People with disabilities
• "Vulnerable" people
• Corrections officers in the performance of their duties
• Highway road crews in a construction/work zone
• Utility and cable workers in the performance of their duties
• Employees of mass transit systems (such as MetroBus drivers) in the performance of their duties

When committed against a "special victim", first-degree assaults become class A felonies (punishable by 10-30 years in prison), second-degree assaults become class B felonies, third-degree assaults are upgraded to class D felonies, and the fourth-degree assault types previously regarded as class C misdemeanors are increased to a class A misdemeanor.