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Assault with a deadly weapon is a commonly charged crime and a serious one. A weapon can be almost anything. We see cases where someone is accused of using a weapon that is their hands or their feet. Other times someone is accused of using an object like a knife, brass knuckles, Oregon. If you can imagine an object that could strike someone, it has probably been alleged in a criminal complaint at some point as a weapon used in an assault with a deadly weapon case.
We know that whenever there is an accusation of assault with a deadly weapon, there are always two sides of the story. Our job is to help you navigate through this system and present your side of this story. We will always listen to you and develop our theme of the case based on how you experience the situation and our knowledge of the facts and the law. That is why you hire a lawyer. You need someone on your side and you need someone who knows how to present the facts in a way that would fit with the law to exonerate you
Assault With a Deadly WeaponPenal Code section 245(a)(1) is the section that prohibits the willful application of force, coupled with the present ability to carry out a threat of harm, using a weapon or force capable of producing great bodily injury or death of another person. The term willful means that you committed the act on purpose and that you meant to do it. The expression “application of force” means any touching of another person in a harmful or offensive manner. Indirectly touch the person or touch them directly. You could touch them with an object or touch an object that is touching them. The term present ability to harm means that you actually were aware that you could harm this person and have the ability to do it. And when we talk about person we are talking about that person's body but it also can include their clothing or car or even anything attached to them. The definition of a deadly weapon is straight forward.. A “deadly weapon “is any object, instrument or weapon that is inherently deadly or one that is used in such a way that it is capable of causing and is likely to cause death or great bodily injury of another person.
The burden is on the prosecution to prove each and every element of the crime including whether you acted willfully, whether you had the ability to apply force, whether you actually did apply force, whether a person was actually touched, and whether there was in fact a deadly weapon used. That means the prosecution also must prove that the weapon was something that was likely to cause death or great bodily injury. For example if I were to hit you with a feather we could probably agree that that would not be a deadly weapon. If the prosecution charged someone with hitting another person with a ruler, that charge probably would not stand either.