HOWARD COUNTY MARYLAND SECOND (2nd) DEGREE ASSAULT DEFENDANT: Charles Jerome Ware, LLC, A National Law Firm

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Premier criminal defense attorney Charles Jerome Ware is Howard County-based, nationally-recognized and respected, and consistently ranked by his many satisfied clients as well as his legal peers as one of the top criminal defense lawyers in the United States [AIDUIA]. For an initial courtesy consultation, contact him and his staff of attorneys at (410) 720-6129. He can help you when you have been charged with assault in Howard County and elsewhere in Maryland.


      SECOND (2nd) DEGREE ASSAULT IN HOWARD COUNTY, MARYLAND


Second (2nd) degree assault is a very popular criminal charge in Howard County as well as through.out the State of Maryland. One of the reasons for its frequent use is the fact that it is such a broad crime that includes a wide variety of factual circumstances.


Maryland's second degree assault law is found in Maryland Code 2010, Criminal Law, Title 3 - Other Crimes Against The Person, Subtitle 2 - Assault, Reckless Endangerment, and Related Crimes, Section 3 -203 - Assault in the Second Degree [ Annotated Code 1957, art. 27, section 12A; 2002, ch. 26, section 26, section 2; 2005, ch. 283; 2006, ch. 305; 2010, chs. 264,265 ].


Generally under Maryland law, a person is considered guilty of assault in the second degree if he or she is found to have caused " physical injury" to another person. Physical injury means impairment of physical condition, including minor injuries. Second degree assault also includes placing a person in reasonable fear of imminent bodily harm. The maximum penalty for second degree assault is 10 years imprisonment and a fine of $2500.00.


There are three (3) specifically different types of second degree assault in Maryland:
  (a) Intent to frighten assault;
  (b) Attempted battery assault; and
  (c) Battery.


In order to prove "intent to frighten" assault, the State must provide beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant committed the act with an intent to place the other person in fear of either immediate physical offensive contact or physical harm; that the defendant had the ability, at the time of the incident, to bring about offensive physical contact or physical harm; and that the other person reasonably feared immediate offensive physical contact or physical harm.


If there is sufficient evidence to support a claim of self-defense, the  State must also prove that the defendant's actions were not legally justified.


"Attempted battery "assault can occur when a person attempts to cause offensive physical contact or physical harm to another person. Here, the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant actually tried to cause immediate offensive contact or physical harm to the other person; and that the defendant intended to bring about offensive physical contact or physical harm.


If there is sufficient evidence to support a claim of self-defense, the State must also prove that the defendant's actions were not legally justified. Consent would also be a defense.


"Battery" as a second degree  assault can be defined as actually causing physical contact with another person. A conviction here can be proved by the State if it shows that the defendant caused offensive physical contact or physical harm to the other person; and that the contact was the result of an intentional or reckless act of the defendant and was not accidental. Again, self-defense can be a good defense here.
Lack of evidence, of course, is always a good defense.