Different aspects of California law protect groups of people and individuals against violation of their rights. Among the most protected groups in California are the children, elderly, public officials, and peace officers. The law protects public officials due to the nature of their job. They discharge their duties directly to public members, including risking their lives while at it. But still, they encounter conflicts and sometimes are assaulted by people they serve.
California laws make assaulting a public officer a severe offense, especially when the official is in the course of duty. The law provides stiff penalties for anyone convicted of the same, including time in prison or jail and paying a hefty fine. A sentence will also leave you with a damaging criminal record. Fortunately, you can fight your charges to avoid a conviction and its consequences if you face similar charges in Santa Ana, CA. At California Criminal Lawyer Group, we specialize in cases like these. Thus, we could help devise a solid defense against your charges to convince the court to reduce or dismiss them.
How California Law Defines Assault on a Public Official
Assault is a severe offense in California. The law protects everyone against assault, providing stiff penalties for anyone found guilty of assaulting another. California law goes a little further to make a special provision for public officials, whose primary duty is to serve the people's interest. Assaulting a public officer is punished by an even stiffer penalty that could leave you serving time in jail or prison and paying a hefty fine. You will also face other consequences of a conviction, including a damaging criminal record that could impact your efforts to find suitable employment.
If you face charges for assaulting a public officer in California, it helps to partner with a skilled criminal lawyer. You need to understand what the law states and the implications of your charges. You also want to know your options and whether you have a chance of fighting for a dismissal or reduction of your charges. An experienced criminal attorney will take you through the legal process, providing advice, guidance, and assistance until you obtain a fair situation outcome.
Prosecutors in California file cases like these every day. They know what is needed to obtain a conviction on anyone charged with assaulting a public officer. But, you will undergo a fair trial, whereby the district attorney must prove all offense elements before a jury. You will also have a chance to provide evidence in defense. The jury will then deliberate and decide based on the evidence presented. The trickiest part of a criminal trial is for a prosecutor to prove all facts of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt.
In this case, the district attorney must prove these elements or facts of the offense before a jury:
- That you committed a crime of assault, whether simple or aggravated
- The person you assaulted is a public official or a close family of a public officer
- Your actions intended to retaliate against the official or prevent them from discharging their duty to members of the public
Let us discuss the various elements in greater detail to understand the offense better.
California Assault
The underlying offense, in this case, is assault. The prosecutor must demonstrate that you committed assault as defined under California law before proving other facts of the crime.
Assault occurs when you illegally attempt to hurt a person, and you have the present capacity to do so. The victim does not have to incur a physical injury for you to be guilty of assault. Also, you do not have to apply force against the victim to be guilty of assault. Any action you take against a person, which can lead to the use of force against them, is sufficient to prove you guilty of assault.
California assault is under Penal Code 240. A slight touch can satisfy the elements of assault if it is inappropriate or offensive. The touching does not have to be direct. An indirect touch can also satisfy the facts of the offense. For instance, when you angrily throw an object at a person.
Here are elements of assault that the district attorney must prove beyond a reasonable doubt for the court to find you guilty of assault:
- You willfully attempted an illegal act that could have led to the application of physical force against another person, or
- You willfully engaged in an act that would likely and directly result in physical injuries on another person
- The person had a firm conviction that your actions would lead to the application of physical force
- You had the ability to apply physical force on the person
Public Official
If you satisfy the elements of assault, the prosecutor will proceed to demonstrate that the person you assaulted was a public official. California PC 217.1 provides a list of persons that qualify as public officials. Some of these persons are:
- The President and the Vice President of the U.S
- A state or territory governor
- Commissioners, subordinates, or referee judicial officials
- State, local, or federal justice, current, and former jurors
- Secretary or director of executive agencies, including federal and state
- Elected officials of the federal or state governments
- City council workers, from the mayor, county supervisors, peace officers, and municipal chiefs of police
- Former and current prosecutors
- Former and current public defenders
The assault could be on the public official or their immediate family members. The immediate family members of a public officer will include their spouse, children, step-children, parents or step-parents, and siblings/step-siblings.
The Motive of the Crime
The assault on a public official or a member of his/her immediate family must be out of revenge or to prevent the official from performing their duty to the public. Without this intent, you will not be guilty under this law, even if the other facts of the offense are true. For instance, if you assault a public officer after an altercation in a local bar for other reasons unrelated to the official’s work, you will not be charged under California PC 217.1. Still, you could face assault charges under PC 240.
Assault Vs. Battery
Assault and battery are two separate offenses under California law commonly used together. Some people treat assault and battery as one offense, while in the real sense, they carry distinct legal meanings, with different penalties for those convicted.
Assaulting a public official is different from battering a public official and will be treated as a separate offense depending on the circumstances of the case. Assaulting a public officer happens when you apply or attempt to apply physical force or violence against a public officer or a member of their immediate family. If you threaten or try to injure a public official, you will face charges for assault under California PC 217.1.
On the other hand, battery occurs when you use physical force or violence against another person. If the person is a public official, you will face charges for battering a public officer. Battery goes beyond an attempt to attack and includes the attack itself. Throwing an object, spitting at a public officer, or pushing the officer to the ground satisfies battery elements.
Simple Vs. Aggravated Assault
The legal definition provided earlier for assault is the definition for simple assault. You will face charges for simple assault on a public officer if you knowingly and recklessly attempted or threatened to use physical force or violence against an official or family member. A threat of harm that the official believes is real and immediate will satisfy the elements of simple assault under California law.
Aggravated assault is more severe as it involves threats or attempts to use physical force or violence against a public official, accomplished using a dangerous or deadly weapon like a knife or gun. The official must reasonably believe that the threat or attempt is real to fear for their safety or the safety of their close family members.
Simple and aggravated assaults are punished differently in California, with the latter carrying graver penalties for those convicted.
Penalties For a Conviction Under California PC 217.1
Assaulting a public officer is more severe than assaulting an ordinary California resident. Thus, you will likely receive graver penalties than the law provides for simple assault if convicted under Penal Code 217.1.
Assaulting a public officer is a wobbler offense in California. It means that the district attorney can prosecute it as a misdemeanor or felony based on your criminal record and the details of your case.
If you face misdemeanor charges under this law, you will likely receive these penalties:
- Summary probation
- Jail time for one year
- A fine not exceeding $1,000
But if you receive a felony sentence under PC 217.1, you will likely receive these penalties:
- Felony probation
- 16 months, two(2), or three (3) years in jail under the state realignment program
- Maximum court fines of $10,000
A felony conviction could count as a strike under the California Three Strike if you are guilty of aggravated assault on a public officer. A strike will increase your penalties for subsequent felony convictions. If you already have a strike in your criminal record, this will count as your second strike and could be punished by double the penalties for the offense under the law. A third strike is usually penalized by 25-years to life in prison.
Public officials that have suffered assault have the legal right to file a lawsuit against their perpetrators for compensation in a civil court. Thus, you could face a lawsuit in which the judge will order you to compensate the official for the damages incurred. Damages in civil cases are monetary and non-monetary losses and could include the cost of medical needs, suffering, and pain.
Defense Strategies to California PC 217.1 Charges
Fortunately for you, you will have a chance to put a defense against assault charges on a public officer. California law provides an equal opportunity for both the accused and victim to present evidence in court, from which the jury will decide. Your chances of winning a case could improve if you have a skilled criminal lawyer’s help. Experienced criminal lawyers know how to use various defense strategies to defend their clients against criminal charges. Here are some of the techniques your lawyer can apply in your case:
You Did Not Act With Specific Intent
Assaulting a public officer requires you to act specifically to retaliate against the officer or stop them from performing their duty. Without this specific intent, you will not face charges under Penal Code 217.1.
It could be that you disagreed with the officer on something else that is not related to their work. In that case, you will face assault charges under PC 240 and not under this statute.
A skilled criminal attorney will aggressively convince the jury of your lack of criminal intent to have the court reduce your charges. The result will be a more lenient charge and fairer penalties than what appears under Penal Code 217.1.
You Did Not Commit Assault
Your attorney can fight the underlying charge of assault to have your charges under PC 217.1 dropped. He can do that by challenging the evidence presented against you by the prosecutor.
Your attorney can cast doubts on the prosecutor’s case to ensure that he/she does not prove all facts of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. For instance, your lawyer can argue that you did not threaten or attempt to hurt the official in the first place. The judge could agree, depending on the details of your case.
Your attorney can also demonstrate your lack of immediate ability to carry out the threat against the official. That would be true if you are physically smaller than the official or were alone while the official had security men around them. The judge will have a hard time believing that the official was reasonably afraid of you.
You Acted in Self Defense
You could not be guilty of assault if you were only trying to defend yourself. That would be true if the official assaulted or attempted to assault you first, and you acted the way you did to protect yourself or your immediate family.
But, your attorney must prove that you were in imminent danger at the time, prompting you to act the way you did. Also, you must not have used more physical force or threats than necessary to protect yourself or someone else against the danger you were experiencing.
If you or someone else was in danger and acted the way you did to protect yourself or them against that danger, the judge will dismiss your charges.
Mistake of Facts
You can also use this defense strategy if you believe that someone else committed the offense and you are taking the blame. It happens all the time. Sometimes victims of assault are mistaken and could point to the wrong person, causing the person to face charges for a crime they did not commit.
In that case, your attorney will use every means possible to convince the court that you did not commit the said offense. It could be that the crime occurred at night, and the official could not see your face clearly, or you were present when the official suffered assault. It could also be because you resemble the actual perpetrator. In that case, the judge will dismiss your charges.
False Accusations
You could also face false accusations for a serious offense like assaulting a public official. An officer can falsely blame you for assault out of revenge or jealousy. It could be because you had fallen out or done something against them, and they needed to take revenge.
False accusations are common, and some people pay heavily for crimes they did not commit. Thus, the jury will be interested to hear more if your attorney cites false accusations as a defense.
Looking at your past relationship with the officer could paint a clearer picture for the jury to understand why the officer would accuse you of an offense you did not commit.
If the jury accepts this defense, it will dismiss your charges.
Offenses Related to PC 217.1
There are offenses under California law closely related to an assault on a public officer. Some of these offenses are prosecuted together with PC 217.1, while prosecutors charge others in place of PC 217.1. Some of them are:
Assault Using a Deadly Weapon
The law against assaulting a person using a deadly weapon is under California Penal Code 245(a)(1). You will face charges under this law if you attack, attempt to attack or threaten to attack a person using a deadly weapon. It is an aggravated form of California assault. Therefore, it carries graver penalties than simple assault.
The underlying offense, in this case, is assault. The prosecutor must first prove that you assaulted another person and then demonstrate that you accomplished the crime using a deadly weapon. You do not have to have inflicted injuries on the victim to face criminal charges under this law.
The focus on your case will be whether you would have applied force on the victim. As used under this statute, the application of force refers to any harmful or offensive touch. Even a slight touch will satisfy the facts of the offense if it is rude or offensive.
A deadly weapon refers to any object that can kill or significantly injure another person. Examples include guns and knives. The touch by the deadly weapon does not necessarily have to be direct. An indirect application of force satisfies the elements of California assault.
Penal Code 245(a)(1) is a wobbler offense in California. If the prosecutor charges it as a misdemeanor, it carries a possible penalty of one year in jail and fines of not more than $1,000. But as a felony, it could result in a maximum of four years in prison and a court fine of up to $10,000.
Both PC 217.1 and Penal Code 245(a)(1) have the same underlying offense. But, you can only face charges under one and not both for the same crime.
Assault on a Peace Officer
California law against assaulting a police officer is under PC 241. You could face charges under this law if you assault a law enforcement officer or public safety first responder while in their line of duty.
PC 241 is also an assault offense. Therefore, the prosecutor will first prove that you committed assault before demonstrating in court that the victim of the offense is a peace or police officer and that they were performing their duty when the crime occurred.
PC 241 and PC217.1 are very closely related, as they refer to a crime committed on persons protected by the state constitution due to the nature of their job. However, public officials are different from peace officers. Thus, you can only face charges under one and not both statutes for the same offense.
Examples of peace officers that this law protects include:
- Firefighters
- Lifeguards
- Highway patrol officers
- Traffic officers
- Process servers
- Paramedics
- Animal control officers
- Nurses and doctors offering emergency medical services
- Members of the search and rescue committees
PC 241 is a misdemeanor, punished by one year in jail and court fines of not exceeding $2,000.
Find a Skilled Sana Ana Criminal Lawyer Near Me
Are you or your loved one facing charges for assaulting a public official in Santa Ana?
You could benefit from competent legal services to make the legal process smooth and plan a solid defense against your charges. We do that and more at California Criminal Lawyer Group. Our team of highly skilled lawyers will study the details of your case, offer advice and guide you to a fair outcome for your situation. We have extensive experience handling assault cases to know the right strategies to apply for a dismissal or reduction of your charges. Call us at 714-844-4151 today for a consultation and to devise the right way forward.