Throughout your life, you may never have considered yourself a violent person. Because of your generally passive nature, the fact that you now face criminal allegations for assault may come as a shock to you and those who know you. However, you may have found yourself in a predicament that may have required violence in order to protect yourself or someone else.
When dealing with any type of criminal charge, you certainly want to understand what the allegations mean and what options you have for dealing with them. When it comes to accusations of a violent crime such as assault, having a meaningful defense presentation could make a considerable difference in the outcomes of your case.
Self-defense
The first defense strategy that may have come to mind and which may very well apply to your case relates to self-defense. If someone posed a threat of unlawful harm against you, you likely had a right to defend yourself. However, in order to prove this in court, you may also need to show the following:
- You had an honest fear that harm would come to you.
- You did not provoke the other party involved.
- You did not have a reasonable chance of escaping the predicament.
In some cases, it may take a violent act in order to protect yourself. Unfortunately, proving that this type of action was warranted may not always be easy.
Defending another person
In addition to your generally non-violent nature, you may have also always had a protective side. Therefore, when you see someone else in trouble, you could feel the need to step in to help. If you believed that another person was at risk of being harmed due to the actions of a third party, you may have felt the need to protect the potential victim. As a result, you may have used physical force to protect that person. This information could play a role in your defense against allegations of assault.
Criminal defense
The type of defense strategy that proves most useful to you may depend on the exact details of the event that led to the criminal charges. Additionally, you may have other options in addition to self-defense or defense of another person. In order to fully understand your viable defense avenues, you may wish to obtain reliable information from local Ohio legal resources. Because this type of scenario can prove complicated, you may also wish to obtain professional assistance.
