Receiving charges for assault and battery can have serious legal and social consequences. If you get convicted, the offense goes on your permanent criminal record. You may end up serving a lengthy jail sentence, pay hefty fines, and lose certain civil rights. Apart from that, you will be perceived as a violent person who is not fit for employment and functioning normally in a community. As a result, you may lose your current job and landlords are likely to deny basic housing privileges. Apart from that, you may not qualify for loans, and you will lose a custody battle if applicable.
To conclude, your life would turn upside down if you are proven guilty of assault and battery. Therefore, it is in your best interests to hire Criminal Defense Attorney in La Grange, Illinois, so that you can beat the charges. You need legal presentation and protection, regardless of fault; only your attorney can equip you with practical defenses in case the allegations are unlawful or misleading. The following defenses are commonly implemented to defy assault and battery charges:
1. Self Defense
Conflicting testimonies are commonplace when the police arrive at the scene of assault and battery; it can sometimes be difficult to deduce that who is the victim or who was the primary aggressor. If the sole reason for inflicting harm on another person was to save your life or protect yourself from an attack they initiated, your actions were indeed justified. However, this can be hard to prove if you managed to come out unharmed and the actual abuser pretends to be the innocent one in the situation. You shall obviously need a convincing argument and reasonable proof to demonstrate that you are not the one who started the conflict and intended to hurt the other.
2. Protecting someone else or property
This alibi is similar to self-defense, the only difference being that you were protecting something/someone other than yourself. For instance, you may have hit a bully that was intimidating or violating a child, senior, or defenseless person. You might have attacked someone who was robbing a store or vandalizing your property, such as an automobile. There is an infinite number of situations where an individual may have no choice, but to take aggressive measures in order to pacify a transgressor or rescue someone from a life-threatening situation.
3. The accuser is lying
Sometimes, the assault never happened, i.e. the alleged victim has made up a story to wrongfully incriminate you. This often happens in cases of domestic violence, where one spouse accuses the other for assaulting them in order to get an advantage in the divorce proceedings. This shameful tactic may help them attain full child custody and even deprive you of visitation rights. The accuser could also be an ex-boyfriend or girlfriend who wants to humiliate or avenge you for some reason. It is also possible that the accuser themselves is the abusive one, or in some cases mentally challenged. Your attorney can help you gather evidence to uncover the truth, and expose the reality of the supposed victim.
4. Mutual Consent
This defense is typically used against allegations of sexual assault and battery. If the accuser begun an intimate relationship with you by will, and you did not touch them without their consent, it shall not be considered as harassment, rape, or any other kind of sexual assault. For example, if the accuser was someone from work, your fellow colleagues should be able to define the nature of the relationship or testify in your favor. Mutual consent is also applicable where two people have agreed to participate in a sport or competition that encourages physical aggression. For instance, if you are going to have a wrestling match with somebody, it is best to acquire their written consent to possible consequences beforehand.
5. Unreasonable Reaction
Under certain circumstances, you can dispute the idea that you endangered or purposefully harmed the other person. For example, the accuser may have misunderstood or misinterpreted something you said. It is also possible that you hurt them by accident and they perceived it as an attack. People can overreact and exaggerate sometimes, which is the point you have to prove. The accuser could be a biased stranger, or a mentally challenged family member. Your job is to demonstrate that any reasonable and sensible person would not feel threatened or wronged by you in the same situation.
