What is the Penalty for Simple Assault in Virginia?
The penalty for simple assault in Virginia varies, depending on the circumstances of that assault. As outlined below, regardless of the circumstances, the direct and indirect consequences of a simple assault conviction are usually very burdensome. Virginia has one of the toughest simple assault laws in the country.
The key is that the penalties for a conviction are serious. A Leesburg criminal defense lawyer uses procedural, substantive, and affirmative defenses to reduce or eliminate these consequences. Procedural defenses include Fourth and Fifth Amendment violations. A substantive defense is usually a lack of evidence such as an unreliable eyewitness. Self-defense is the most common affirmative defense in simple assault cases.
Direct Penalties
Simple assault, which is intentionally causing injury to another person is usually a Class 1 misdemeanor in Virginia (up to one year in jail and/or a $2,500 fine). One of the reasons Section 18.2-57 is so tough is that several sentence enhancements could apply:
- Hate Crime: Defendants must serve at least six months behind bars if they “intentionally selects the person against whom a simple assault is committed because of his race, religious conviction, gender, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, color, or ethnic or national origin.”
- Public Official: Basically, simple assault becomes aggravated assault if the simple assault was committed against a police officer, firefighter, or other similar government workers, the defendant knew the alleged victim’s status, and the alleged victim was acting in his/her official capacity at the time.
- Healthcare Worker: Defendants must serve between two and fifteen days in jail if the alleged victim “is a health care provider who is engaged in the performance of his duties in a hospital or in an emergency room on the premises of any clinic or other facility rendering emergency medical care.”
Related enhancements include assaults against teachers (two to fifteen days in jail) and public transportation workers (unable to ride public transportation for six months).
Furthermore, judges often impose additional conditions of probation in these cases, such as drug tests, anger management classes, and victim impact panels.
Indirect Penalties
The indirect penalties of domestic violence assault are particularly intense. Virginia law typically defines domestic violence as a simple assault against any person related by blood or marriage. Dating partners are also domestic violence victims in some cases.
These indirect penalties usually include protective orders and issues in family court. A protective order could last two years, or more, in Virginia. The family law effects are even longer lasting. A domestic violence simple assault goes onto a person’s permanent record.
Assault convictions also create serious employment problems. Many employers won’t even seriously consider hiring a person with a prior assault, especially if the job requires any customer service.
Furthermore, assault is usually a crime involving moral turpitude (CIMT). As such, an assault conviction could have short and long-term immigration consequences. A conviction could mean immediate deportation proceedings. A conviction could also derail a future status adjustment application.
Connect With a Detail-Oriented Loudoun County Lawyer
There’s a big difference between an arrest and a conviction in criminal law. For a confidential consultation with an experienced criminal defense attorney in Leesburg, contact Simms Showers, LLP, Attorneys at Law. We routinely handle matters throughout Northern Virginia.
Source:
law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title18.2/chapter4/section18.2-57/
