Assault on the Track?  Did A High School Track Athlete Assault Another Athlete During a Race?  Simple vs Aggravated (Felony) Assault – What is the difference? 

Recently a Virginia Track Athlete, Alaila Everett, was captured on video allegedly striking another athlete, Kaelen Tucker, with a runner’s baton during a race.  The video went viral and quickly made national headlines.  While the athlete remains uncharged and claims that her actions were unintentional, the video appears to show the contrary. 

While Everett has attempted to contact Tucker, neither she or members of her team attempted to show concern for her immediately.  It remains unclear if authorities will take action against Evertt but it is likely that the alleged victim will seek civil damages against her.  Keep in mind, however, that the burden of proof is much lower in civil court as opposed to criminal (guilt beyond a reasonable doubt)

Assault in Virginia – Is it like Pennsylvania and New Jersey? 

Our law firm is not licensed in Virginia but this case provides an opportunity to explain aggravated assault and simple assault in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.  In Virginia Assault and Battery are serious criminal offenses. Simple Assault and Battery is charged as misdemeanor offenses similar to New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Assault and Battery charges, however, become felony crimes in Virginia where it involves any of the following: 

• Hate Crimes: Victim is targeted because of their race, religion, gender, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, color, or national origin, and the battery results in injury;
• Assaulting Protected Individuals:  law enforcement officer, correctional officer, firefighter, emergency medical personnel;
• Malicious Wound: If the Defendant maliciously shoots, stabs, cuts, or wounds another person with the intent to maim, disfigure, disable or kill the victim
• Unlawful Wound: If the Defendant unlawfully causes bodily injury without malicious intent, it can result in a Class 6 felony 
• Domestic Violence: 
• Aggravated Malicious Wound: If the victim sustains permanent and significant physical impairment

 have a mandatory jail sentence and can even be elevated to a felony offense with a possible prison sentence. 

What You Need to Know About Simple Assault vs. Aggravated Assault in New Jersey and Pennsylvania

In Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the are different degrees of assault.  A criminal assault charge’s grading is normally based on the level of force used or the intent to use that force.  In Pennsylvania, assault is divided into two categories, aggravated assault (Title 18, Section 2702), graded as a felony crime and simple assault (Title 18, 2701), graded as a misdemeanor offense. 

This distinction is very important and your criminal lawyer must explain it to you.  A felony crime subjects you to a potential state prison sentence.  A misdemeanor offense conviction doesn’t necessary mean that you are going to jail but it is still a possibility.  I usually discuss these concepts when I discuss legal fees with a clients and their families. 

Aggravated Assault –  Felony of the First vs. Felony of the Second Degree

The charge of Aggravated Assault requires the prosecution prove beyond a reasonable doubt, that the defendant intentionally or knowingly caused or attempted to cause serious bodily injury or bodily injury with a deadly weapon. This can be graded as a felony of the first or second degree depending on the injuries or attempts to cause those injuries.

It is a felony of the first degree where the prosecution proves beyond a reasonable doubt the person acted knowingly and intentionally to cause serious bodily injury. It is a felony of the second degree where the prosecution establishes that the person acted knowingly or intentionally to cause bodily injury (as opposed to serious bodily injury) with a deadly weapon.

Simple Assault in New Jersey

In New Jersey a person commits simple assault under 2C: 12-1 (a) if he or she attempts to cause or purposely, knowingly, recklessly causes bodily injury to another or negligently causes bodily injury to another with a deadly weapon. A person also commits simple assault in New Jersey under subsection (3) if he or she attempts, by physical menace, to put another under fear by imminent bodily injury.

New Jersey, unlike Pennsylvania, doesn’t classify crimes or offenses as misdemeanors or felonies, but rather as indictable offenses (crimes—1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, & 4^th degrees), disorderly persons, and petty disorderly persons. Simple assault is a disorderly person’s offense (non-indictable) unless it is committed during a fight entered into by mutual consent, in which case it is a petty disorderly offense.

Aggravated Assault in New Jersey

Aggravated assault in New Jersey, like Pennsylvania, is committed when one attempts to cause serious bodily injury or causes such injury purposely or, under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life, recklessly causes such injuries (subsection 1).

Aggravated assault is a crime of the 2^nd degree in these situations and a crime of the 3^rd degree where a person attempts to cause or purposely causes bodily injury with a deadly weapon or recklessly causes bodily injury with a deadly weapon. Here, aggravated assault is graded as a crime of the 3^rd degree. It is a crime of the 4^th degree if a person knowingly, under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life, points a firearm at another whether or not the actor believes that the firearm is loaded.

Law Enforcement & Assault in New Jersey (Protected Classes)

New Jersey, like Pennsylvania, a person who commits a simple assault against a member of law enforcement, commits an aggravated assault. This means that the state does not need to establish beyond a reasonable doubt serious bodily injury, but only bodily injury.

If the officer suffers bodily injury it is a crime of the 3^rd degree, otherwise it is a crime of the 4^th degree. New Jersey’s criminal code treats police officer’s, volunteer firefighters, EMS, and school employees as protected classes. This means that the Commonwealth doesn’t need to establish serious bodily injury but only bodily injury, which is normally the standard reserved for simple assault, a non-indictable offense.

Remember that in New Jersey there is a substantial difference between an indictable crime versus an offense (disorderly persons and petty disorderly persons). Indictable crimes are what Pennsylvania would define as felony offenses, whereas, disorderly persons and petty disorderly persons are misdemeanor and summary offenses.

Degrees of Criminality in New Jersey

Crimes of the 1^st and 2^nd degree carry with them the presumption of state incarceration. Examples and maximum punishments in the Garden State are as follows:

1. Crimes of the 1^st degree—murder, manslaughter, and rape:  The court can impose a basic sentence of 10-20 years or as much as 30 years to life for a crime like murder.
2. Crimes of the 2^nd degree—certain sex crimes, aggravated assault, aggravated arson, burglary, kidnapping, white collar crimes, and certain drug crimes: The court can impose a prison sentence of 5-10 years and a fine of up to $150,000.
3. Crimes of the 3^rd degree—robbery, possession of a controlled substance, and even some driving under the influence (DUI offenses): The court can impose a prison sentence of 3-5 years and a fine of up to $15,000
4. Crimes of the 4^th degree—stalking, some robbery offenses, some DUI offenses, assault offenses, and forgery offenses: The court can impose a sentence of up to 18 months in prison and a fine of up to $10,000

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