First-Degree Domestic Assault Lawyer in St. Louis

First-Degree Domestic Assault in Missouri

Domestic assault is the charge Missouri uses to prosecute acts of domestic violence. Prosecutors can file domestic assault charges when the accused does any of the following:

• Attempts to kill the victim
• Attempts to injure the victim
• Injures the victim
• Makes harmful contact with the victim
• Makes offensive contact with the victim
• Threatens the victim in a way that places them in immediate fear of injury

Not all of these acts qualify as first-degree domestic assault. Missouri divides domestic assault into four degrees, with first-degree being the most severe charge and fourth-degree being the least severe.

These charges apply to acts directed toward a domestic victim. Under Missouri law, a domestic victim includes the following family or household members:

• Spouses
• Ex-spouses
• Any person related by blood or marriage
• Present or former cohabitors
• People in an ongoing romantic or intimate relationship
• Parents, regardless of whether they were married or cohabited

Most of these categories are clear — you can be accused of domestic assault against your parent, brother-in-law, or same-sex partner. The only fuzzy category is cohabitors. Some states limit domestic violence to cohabitors in a romantic or intimate relationship. These domestic violence statutes therefore apply to unmarried couples living together.

However, Missouri’s statute is written more broadly. It has a separate clause for people in a continuing romantic or intimate relationship. Thus, the clause about cohabitation was arguably intended to apply to something different.

The way the law is written, the police can reasonably charge you with assault against a current or former roommate, even if you had no relationship other than cohabiting.

Assault Statutes in Missouri

The Missouri Revised Statutes include four laws addressing criminal acts considered domestic assault. These statutes appear in the chapter defining Offenses Against the Person, along with the state’s laws against homicide, kidnapping, and abuse. The assault statutes you should know for your case include the following:

First-Degree Domestic Assault

First-degree domestic assault prohibits three acts:

• Attempting to kill a domestic victim
• Knowingly causing serious physical injury to a domestic victim
• Knowingly attempting to cause serious physical injury to a domestic victim

Understanding this law requires a definition of three key terms.

“Attempts” are considered crimes when someone performs a substantial step with the intent to commit the offense. Wanting to kill or injure someone isn’t enough for an assault conviction. The police must have evidence that you acted with the purpose of injuring or killing the alleged victim.

“Knowingly” means you understood the nature of your acts and were aware that your conduct was practically certain to kill or seriously injure the alleged victim.

For example, let’s say the police accuse you of first-degree domestic assault because you drove your car off a bridge into a river with your spouse inside. You wouldn’t have acted knowingly if you blacked out and swerved off the bridge. However, you might have if you were arguing and deliberately swerved off the bridge to hurt your spouse.

“Serious physical injury” includes any type of physical harm that produces any of the following consequences:

• Substantial risk of death
• Serious disfigurement
• Protracted loss or impairment of any body function

Serious physical injuries might include scars, concussions and other brain injuries, or the loss of an eye. However, they might not include bruises or minor lacerations.

Fractures fall on the margins. Some, like broken arms or legs, might cause protracted impairment of body function. Others, like broken fingers or ribs, might not.

First-Degree Assault

First-degree assault occurs when the accused attempts to kill the victim, knowingly causes serious physical injury, or knowingly attempts to cause serious physical injury. This charge is substantially the same as first-degree domestic assault, but it’s used when prosecutors can’t prove that the alleged victim qualifies as a domestic victim.

In many situations, proving that you had a domestic relationship with the alleged victim won’t fully exonerate you. Instead, prosecutors might amend your charges to include first-degree assault charges.

For example, suppose that the police respond to a complaint of a physical altercation in a bar. After interviewing those involved, they aren’t sure whether they’re just co-workers or they’re involved in a romantic relationship.

Rather than filing first-degree domestic assault charges and risking an acquittal if there’s no domestic victim, prosecutors might file first-degree assault charges since they apply to any victim.

Second-Degree Domestic Assault

Second-degree domestic assault charges can arise when prosecutors allege any of the following acts by the accused:

• Knowingly causing physical injury to a domestic victim by any means
• Recklessly causing serious physical injury to a domestic victim
• Recklessly causing physical injury to a domestic victim using a deadly weapon

When the statute refers to “any means,” it covers everything, including deadly weapons, dangerous instruments, choking, and strangulation.

A “deadly weapon” includes the following:

• Loaded and unloaded firearms
• Projectile weapons capable of causing serious physical injury or death
• Switchblade knives and daggers
• Billy clubs and blackjacks
• Metal knuckles

A “dangerous instrument” includes any object, article, or substance capable of causing serious injury or death. Examples include baseball bats and motor vehicles.

Second-degree domestic assault charges are important because the punishments are less severe than those for first-degree domestic assault. Thus, a possible defense strategy is to reach a plea bargain in which prosecutors agree to reduce your charges from first-degree domestic assault to second-degree domestic assault.

Defenses Against First-Degree Domestic Assault Charges in St. Louis

Defendants can assert many criminal defense strategies to secure a dismissal, reduction, or acquittal in their domestic assault cases, including the following:

Self-Defense or Defense of Others

You’re allowed to defend yourself or others if you reasonably believe force is necessary to prevent what you reasonably believe to be the use or threatened use of force.

The repeated use of “reasonably believe” is intentional — it allows you to make mistakes when using self-defense if a rational person in the same situation could have made the same error.

For example, suppose that you see your domestic partner threatening your child with a knife. Under your right to defend others, you could slam them to the ground even if they were playing, as long as your mistake was reasonable.

The primary limit of self-defense is that you can only use force to the extent necessary to end the situation.

Battered Spouse Syndrome

Battered spouse syndrome is often viewed as a category of post-traumatic stress disorder. This condition affects your perceptions of threatening acts. It might therefore allow you to claim self-defense in response to triggers unique to your experience as a long-term domestic violence victim.

Lack of Knowledge

First-degree domestic assault requires proof that the accused acted intentionally or knowingly.

For example, let’s say prosecutors charge you with first-degree domestic assault because your spouse suffered a gunshot wound during an argument while camping. We may be able to get the charges reduced by showing that the gun discharged accidentally while you were cleaning it.