Los Angeles Assault Lawyer

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Assault Lawyer in Los Angeles

If you have been charged with assault in Los Angeles the charge on your paperwork and the penalties you are facing depend entirely on what the prosecution alleges you did and what was involved. Assault in California covers a range of conduct from a simple misdemeanor to a serious felony carrying years in state prison and the difference between those outcomes is determined by specific facts that an experienced attorney needs to analyze from the first day. At The Law Offices of Arash Hashemi our Los Angeles assault lawyer has spent over 20 years defending clients against assault and serious criminal charges throughout Los Angeles County. Contact our office today at (310) 448-1529 for a free confidential consultation.

Assault Charges in California — What You Are Facing

The first thing to understand when charged with assault in California is the distinction between assault and battery because the two are consistently confused and the difference between them matters for your defense. Assault under Penal Code 240 is an attempt to commit a violent injury on another person. No physical contact is required. The charge is based on the act and the intent — not the result. Battery under Penal Code 242 is the actual harmful or offensive touching of another person. A person can be charged with assault without ever making contact with anyone and that distinction shapes the entire defense because the prosecution must prove the defendant had the present ability to commit a violent injury and acted with the intent to do so.

Simple assault under PC 240 is a misdemeanor carrying up to six months in county jail and fines up to $1,000. It is the least serious form of the charge but a conviction still creates a permanent criminal record that affects employment and licensing. The charge escalates significantly when a weapon or other aggravating factor is involved.

Assault with a deadly weapon under PC 245(a)(1) applies when the assault was committed with a weapon other than a firearm or by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury. It is a wobbler carrying up to 4 years in state prison as a felony. Assault with a firearm under PC 245(a)(2) is also a wobbler but carries up to 4 years in state prison for a standard firearm and up to 12 years when a machine gun or assault weapon was involved. Assault with caustic chemicals under PC 244 is a straight felony carrying 2, 3, or 4 years in state prison and applies when a person throws or places a caustic or flammable substance on another person with the intent to injure or disfigure. Assault on a peace officer under PC 241 carries enhanced penalties when the victim was a police officer, firefighter, EMT, or other protected category of public servant and the defendant knew or should have known the victim was a protected officer.

The Most Important Issue in Most Assault Cases

The prosecution must prove the defendant had the present ability to commit a violent injury and acted with the willful intent to do so. Both elements must be established beyond a reasonable doubt. When the defendant did not have the actual ability to cause the injury at the time of the alleged act or when the conduct was not willful the charge cannot be sustained. Threats alone do not satisfy the assault statute. Words without an accompanying act that would directly probably result in the application of force do not constitute assault under California law.

This is why assault cases turn heavily on the specific facts of what happened, what the defendant actually did, what the complaining witness claims happened, and what evidence exists to support either version. Surveillance footage, witness accounts, and the physical circumstances of the incident are all critical and all need to be analyzed from the first consultation.

How We Defend Assault Charges in Los Angeles

Most assault cases are built on the testimony of the complaining witness and in many cases that testimony is the entire prosecution. When the complaining witness has a motive to exaggerate or fabricate, when their account is inconsistent with physical evidence or other witnesses, or when the incident arose from a mutual confrontation where the defendant was acting in self-defense or defense of others the prosecution’s case is vulnerable at its core.

Self-defense and defense of others are complete defenses to assault charges when the defendant reasonably believed they or another person faced imminent harm and the force used was proportional to the threat. Our criminal defense attorney builds the self-defense argument through the defendant’s account, witness statements, and any physical evidence of the threat that preceded the alleged assault. When the complaining witness was the initial aggressor and the defendant responded to a genuine threat the prosecution cannot meet its burden.

When the assault charge involves a deadly weapon our criminal defense attorney challenges both the classification of the item as a deadly weapon and whether the force used was likely to produce great bodily injury. The wobbler nature of PC 245 charges means that early engagement with prosecutors to argue for misdemeanor treatment can change the entire trajectory of the case before a felony designation is locked in.

Contact a Los Angeles Assault Lawyer Today

Attorney Arash Hashemi has defended clients against assault and serious criminal charges throughout Los Angeles County for over 20 years. He understands how the District Attorney’s office at each filing location approaches assault cases, how to challenge the identification and credibility of complaining witnesses, and where the defense has the most leverage at every stage. Every case is handled personally by Attorney Hashemi with no associates and no handoffs.

A conviction for assault carries consequences that extend well beyond the sentence itself and the charge you are facing today can look very different with the right defense in place from the start. Contact our office today for a free confidential consultation.

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We are conveniently located in the Westside Towers serving clients facing assault and criminal charges across Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, the San Fernando Valley, Long Beach, and all surrounding communities. Your defense starts the moment you call.