Assault on a Public Official

Public officials make critical policies and decisions that do not sit well with everyone. The decisions sometimes create anger and resentment to the extent that these officials are threatened or physically attacked. The California legislature recognizes the threat to these officials, hence the reason for enacting strict statutes prohibiting assault against public officials.

Assault on a public official is a serious crime that attracts misdemeanor or felony charges. If you face these charges, you must understand the crime's nature, the elements of the case the prosecutor should prove, possible penalties, and how to defend against them. At the California Criminal Lawyer Group in Fresno, we will review your claim, prepare you for trial, and ensure a favorable outcome. 

Understanding Assault Against a Public Officer

California Penal Code (PC) 240 describes assault as using violence or power to cause harm to another party. Nevertheless, when the assault is directed towards a government official in retaliation for or to deter the officer from performing their official duties, it violates PEN 217.1. From this definition, the DA must show particular elements beyond moral certainty. Once the prosecutor presents their case, the judge and jury will review the evidence to determine if all aspects have been satisfied.

The Aspects of the Case the Prosecutor Must Demonstrate

When the District Attorney (DA) is convinced the evidence presented against you is sufficient to secure a conviction, they will file formal charges and submit the case in court. The judge will schedule a court date once they receive your file.

If the case proceeds to trial, the DA should demonstrate that you engaged in the alleged PEN 217.1 violation, meaning they hold the burden of proof. The evidentiary standard in these criminal cases is higher because the DA must prove all aspects of the case beyond a moral or reasonable certainty.

The prosecutor needs evidence to satisfy this evidentiary standard. Therefore, they partner with the investigating officers to acquire the requisite proof to build a solid charge. The DA aims to secure a guilty verdict. So, you should expect them to satisfy all the case's elements.

Despite having access to evidence from multiple sources, they must abide by all the evidence statutes. Failure to comply with the evidence laws will make some of the evidence inadmissible, giving the prosecutor a problematic time proving all the case's facts.

The DA's problems proving the case are a plus for your defense lawyer. They will spot the weaknesses in the prosecutor's case and poke holes in the evidence to cast doubt in the jury's minds about the prosecutor's assertions. The elements or aspects of public official assault the prosecutor must demonstrate are:

You, the Accused, Assaulted an Individual

Attacking or trying to inflict grievous or violent harm on another party after invading their space amounts to assault. Also, assault requires that the target party recognizes that you intended to harm them, causing them to fear for their safety. Therefore, the law deems you to have engaged in assault if you are close to the alleged victim and introduces reasonable fear of violent harm.

The prosecutor does not need to show that the assault was successful. All they must demonstrate before the jury is that you tried to attack a holder of public office, and at the time, you possessed the capacity to accomplish the assault.

For the DA to charge you with assault, they must have evidence to show that you tried or attempted to engage in conduct that would lead to the use of violence against someone else. Your actions must have been willful or intentional, and you knew that by engaging in the conduct, the person you were targeting would reasonably believe it would result in the use of force.

The application or use of force refers to offensive or dangerous contact or touching. If you offensively touch a public officer, you will attract PEN 217.1 violation charges even if you did not harm the officer. You risk the charges even when the contact did not offend or hurt the official in any way. Besides, direct contact with or touching an official is not mandatory. Throwing a harmful object at them, spitting at them, or using a stick to create fear amounts to assault.

It would help to know that you will be charged with assault when you attempt to violently harm a public officer but fail. The central aspect of the charge that the prosecutor must demonstrate is that you intended to hurt and took a couple of steps to actively use force on the official, even though they escaped without any injuries or harm. Acting with intent or purposefully does not imply that you planned on breaking the law or injuring the official.

Also, it does not mean you want to gain any advantage by attacking the official. It only shows that you planned on using force or harmfully touching the alleged victim. Even when multiple victims are involved, the prosecutor will use the same evaluation you intended to apply to several public officials.

It is worth understanding that even though assault and battery are used interchangeably, they do not have the same meaning. Assault implies that your activities would likely inflict bodily injuries on an official. Nevertheless, you must have succeeded in inflicting physical harm on the official to face battery counts. Again, in an assault, you do not need to succeed in making violent or harmful contact. An attempt is enough to secure a conviction. However, for the prosecutor to convict you of battery, they must demonstrate that you harmfully or offensively touched the victim.

The Assault was on a Public Official

Another case element the DA must demonstrate is that the victim of the assault was a public or state official. They do this by proving that the assaulted person was actively holding a public office when the assault happened.

According to PEN 217.1a, a public officer or official is any federal, state, or municipal government employee. Individuals who qualify as government or public officials are:

• The US president.
• The US vice president.
• State governors.
• Ex or current judge or jury in the state, municipal, or federal government.
• Ex or current public defender.
• Ex or current DA or prosecutor.
• Elected government officials.
• A secretary or director of a state or national government executive agency.
• Appointed commissioners.
• State secretaries.
• Mayors.
• Judicial officials.

The list of public officials also includes the immediate family of these persons, including spouses, children, parents, stepparents, siblings, stepchildren, and stepsiblings.

Besides, public officers include individuals who interact with citizens daily as part of their job. These individuals include:

• Lifeguards.
• Emergency medical technicians (EMTs) or paramedics.
• Firefighters responding to fire emergencies.
• Peace officials like law enforcement and the police.
• Traffic officers on duty.
• Rescue and search unit members.
• Doctors or nurses offering medical care.
• Animal control officers.

If any of these individuals fall victim to your assault, you risk PEN 217.1 violation charges.

You Had the Motive to Stop the Official from performing their Duties or to Retaliate

The last crucial element the prosecutor must demonstrate is that you assaulted the public officials in retribution or to deter them from performing their official duties. Even if you assault an official but not for retaliation or to obstruct them from doing their work, you will not be guilty of a PEN 217.1 violation. However, this does not mean you will not face charges or be convicted of another offense. The prosecutor will charge you with simple assault or assault with a deadly weapon (ADW) if the attack on the official was not politically motivated.

Penalties for Assaulting a Public Officer

A violation of PEN 217.1(a) is a wobbler. Depending on the unique circumstances of your case and your criminal history, the prosecutor can file it as a felony or misdemeanor.

• Misdemeanor Penalties

You risk severe penalties when the prosecutor attaches misdemeanor charges against you and successfully proves all the case's elements. You will attract jail incarceration of no more than twelve months and a monetary court fine of at most $1,000.

If you are lucky to have a competent defense lawyer, they can convince the court to impose misdemeanor or informal probation instead of the jail term. Instead of staying in jail until the sentence ends, the court lets you do your sentence out of jail under their supervision.

Summary or misdemeanor probation typically lasts twelve to thirty-six months, although sometimes it can extend to five years based on the situation surrounding your charges. Probation comes with strict conditions that you must follow. The court can instruct you to:

1. Enroll in mandatory counseling.
2. Perform community service or labor.
3. Compensate or restitute the said victim for the harm or damages stemming from the assault.

Any defendant convicted of a PEN 217.1a violation is eligible for misdemeanor probation. The program aims to safeguard the public, rehabilitate the defendant, and ensure victim restoration. The court will sentence you to probation, especially if it is your first offense or you are a young offender. Sometimes, repeat offenders are eligible for summary probation, although this depends on the case's facts. You will need an experienced lawyer with excellent negotiation skills to convince the court to sentence you to informal probation in place of jail.

If your lawyer and the DA agree to a plea deal, you will be sentenced to summary probation. In other cases, the judge recommends informal probation during disposition or sentencing. When you receive this sentence, the court will not require you to serve any jail sentence. Nevertheless, if the judge decides you should serve both probation and jail sentence, the jail incarceration will be minimal.

Probation is usually longer than a jail sentence. If the probation conditions are strict, you can reject the program and opt to serve the jail sentence. Talk to your defense lawyer to understand if the misdemeanor probation makes sense. If it does not, then you can oppose it.

• Felony Penalties

The charge of assaulting or attacking a public officer can be filed as a felony. The felony penalties you will attract include state prison incarceration for sixteen or twenty-four months. Alternatively, you can serve a jail sentence of 36 months under the realignment program. A felony conviction can also attract a monetary court fine of $10,000.

Serving time in jail hurts all aspects of your life, including family, career, and social life. Therefore, even if you have been convicted, your lawyer should pursue an alternative to prison incarceration. Felony or formal probation acts as a substitute for serving time in prison. With this form of probation, you enjoy your freedom under the strict supervision of the court or probation officer (PO). When you breach the probation terms, the judge can revoke the probation and send you to prison to serve the initial sentence.

Felony and misdemeanor probation are different. With formal probation, the judge must receive a report from the PO before sentencing, but a statement is not necessary with informal probation. Also, while serving formal probation, the court assigns you a PO who ensures you abide by the court-imposed conditions and monitors your rehabilitation. Nevertheless, with misdemeanor or summary probation, you do not report to a PO. Instead, you periodically report to the court to register your progress.

Several factors can influence the judge's decision to impose penalties after you are convicted. One of these factors is whether you caused grievous injuries to the victim. Although causing injuries is not a requirement for a conviction for assaulting a public official, it influences the judge's decision during sentencing, causing them to adjust the penalties. Similarly, you risk sentence enhancement if you attack multiple public officials simultaneously. Your criminal record also affects your liabilities. If you are a repeat offender for the same crime, the judge will increase your penalties.

Defending Against PEN 217.1a Violation Charges

When you face charges for assaulting a public officer in Fresno, you should consult with the California Criminal Lawyer Group to help you contest the charges. Our team of defense lawyers will help you prepare the proper defenses before trial and capture discrepancies in the prosecutor's evidence to poke holes in their case. We will discuss all the case details to ensure we obtain the information necessary to build solid defenses. The viable defense strategies we will apply for a favorable outcome are:

You Had No Motive or Criminal Intent

The jury can only find you guilty of a PEN 217.1 violation if you attack a public official with the specific motive of retribution or to prevent them from engaging in their duties. If the prosecutor cannot establish the criminal intent or explanation, you are not guilty of assaulting a public or state official. Your lawyer can argue that the assault was accidental and present evidence to support their assertions.

You Lacked the Immediate Capacity to Inflict Violent Harm

A critical aspect of the charges is that during the alleged assault, you must have possessed the present capability to harm the public official. During an argument with a public officer, you can use harsh statements and gestures or even try to hurt them. Nevertheless, you cannot be guilty of the charges unless you possess the capacity to cause harm at the time. You can mount this defense if the said public official is so much more robust, younger, or bigger than you that you could not harm them. The defense strategy reduces the charge to a lesser offense, like disturbing the peace.

You were Defending yourself or Another Person

Your lawyer can counter the prosecutor's arguments by arguing that you acted in self-defense or defended someone from a violent public officer. Many law enforcement officers and prosecutors tend to believe that public officials cannot break the law. Nevertheless, if you reasonably thought you were at risk of being attacked by a government official, the law allows you to react using reasonable force to repel the threat. You can use self-defense as a valid defense strategy if you can demonstrate that:

• You had good faith or reasonable belief that you or another individual was at imminent risk of physical injury or significant bodily injury.
• You lacked any other alternative other than using force to repel the threat. Your lawyer can argue that you could not flee the scene or call for help, and the only option was to use violence to prevent injuries.
• You used proportionate force to repel the danger based on the circumstances. The law even allows you to use excessive force, but when necessary. The judge can determine if the force applied is proportionate or essential to prevent the threat.

You are Falsely Accused

The fact that the victim does not need to sustain physical or visible injuries for you to face charges means a public officer can falsely blame you for assault if they have resentment against you or you disagree with them. You need a lawyer to avoid wrongful conviction for a crime you did not commit. An experienced lawyer gathers witness statements and evidence to show the court the events leading to your arrest and charges. The lawyer does not need to show the court that your story is true because they do not hold the burden of proof. They only need to cast doubt in the prosecutor's assertion to ensure the evidence submitted against you does not meet the evidentiary standards provided by the law.

Related Crimes

Several offenses are related to public official assault and can be charged with or alongside the offense. These are:

• California Battery

Per PEN 242, it is illegal to deliberately and illegally apply violence against someone else. The offense differs from assault in terms of physical contact. If the intended physical contact was unsuccessful in causing harm, you can face PEN 217.1 violation charges. Nevertheless, when you succeed in making offensive or harmful contact, battery accusations arise.

When prosecuting battery, the prosecutor must show you invaded another party's space and made unpleasant contact, not necessarily resulting in severe injuries.

• Assault on a Police Officer

PC 241 criminalizes any attempts to assault or attack a police officer or public safety first responder while performing formal duties. The statute protects police officers because they interact with the public daily, and by upholding their safety, they can diligently perform their duties of maintaining law and order.

• Simple Assault

PC 240 makes attempting to inflict violent injuries on someone else a misdemeanor. The DA will charge you with simple assault when you willfully engage in conduct likely to lead to the use of violence on someone else. Also, the prosecutor should prove that you knew your behavior would lead to violence and, at the time, you had the present capacity to use the violence on another party.

A PEN 240 violation is a misdemeanor whose conviction is punishable by at most six months of jail incarceration and a fine of at most $1,000.

• PEN 245(a)(i) ADW

Per PEN 245(a) (i), it is unlawful to attack or attempt to attack a government officer or someone else using a gun, knife, or a lethal weapon capable of inflicting significant bodily injuries. Therefore, when you utilize a deadly weapon to attack an officer, you will face PEN 217.1 violation and ADW charges.

It would help if you understood that "assault" under this statute has the exact definition as it does under PEN 217.1.

• Disturbing Peace

PC 415 prohibits fighting with someone else or making disturbing noise in public. Also, the statute prohibits using provocative fighting language in public, resulting in backlash. Fighting in a club or the use of racist insults that continue even after being asked to stop can result in disturbing the peace charges.

When you face several counts of attacking a public officer, your lawyer can compel the prosecutor to agree to a plea bargain where you plead guilty to the lesser offense of disturbing the peace, which can be charged as a misdemeanor or infraction depending on the circumstances.

Find a Reputable Assault and Battery Lawyer Near Me

Attacking a public officer is more severely punished by the law than other assault charges. The government must protect its employees when performing official duties. When, as a civilian, you assault these officials, it is construed to be a crime against the officer and the government.

At California Criminal Lawyer Group in Fresno, we know that a conviction for assault against a government official attracts severe punishment, which is why we are here to defend you. Contact us today at 559-712-8377 to discuss your case and protect your rights.