California Penal Code Section 240
by
Randy Collins on Feb. 21, 2012
Summary: The law for California Penal Code 240 defines assault as someone intentionally acting in a manner that would conclude with force.
Assault under California
Penal Code Section 240 is a large umbrella of other assault cases like
aggravated assault, battery, sexual assault, assault with a deadly weapon and
more. The term assault, in legal lingo, is often used with the term battery. However
the two crimes are different and they each carry their own fines and
punishments.
The law for California Penal Code 240 defines assault as someone intentionally acting in a manner that would conclude with force.
For example, if two people in a relationship are fighting and one attempts to hit the other person, even if the person was not impacted or suffered bodily harm, the act is still regarded as assault. Acts of assault are very common in domestic disputes, even though not limited.
In order for the State of California to take the case to trial, certain elements of the crime will have to be proven and these are:
· The defendant deliberately behaved in a manner that would most possibly result in force
· The defendant knew that how they were behaving would likely end in force
· The defendant had the ability to use force at the time
When found guilty of assault, it is usually filed as a misdemeanor and this includes six months of jail time and fines of up to one thousand dollars. In addition, fines will be increased if the assault was carried out on an Executive Officer. Other fines include one or more of the following:
· Participation in batterer’s program
· An informal probation
· Community service
A good lawyer can present many legal and valid defenses for assault charges to prove someone’s innocence. A legal defense team can argue that the guilty party was falsely accused, they didn’t intend to use force, or had the inability to do so, or they were acting in self defense.
If you’ve found yourself facing assault charges and you are innocent, a criminal defense law firm like McGregor and Collins can assist. Call (949) 250-6097, or visit the website for additional information.
Learn more about other California Section Penal Codes here.