The state of Maryland legally defines assault as the intentional, unwanted, or harmful physical touching of another, or the placing of another in reasonable fear of imminent harmful or offensive conduct. And so, if you are up against assault charges, this is serious enough that you cannot simply declare self-defense and be automatically immune from potential criminal consequences. Rather, self-defense must meet strict legal requirements, and the burden of satisfying them may make or break the success of your case. With these things considered, please follow along to find out whether you can use a self-defense claim for your pending assault charges and how one of the proficient Prince George’s County assault lawyers at Miller Berman can provide you with the legal support you need during this critical time.
Can I claim self-defense if I’m up against assault charges?
To effectively claim self-defense in your assault case, you must show the Maryland criminal court that you reasonably believed you were in immediate danger of bodily harm. This means that it was happening or was about to happen, and that there was no time left for alternative action.
Then, you must prove that the force you used was necessary and proportional to the threat you received. For example, your use of deadly force may only be justified in response to a threat or serious bodily harm, or death. Here, the court may evaluate whether a reasonable person in your same position would have found the same level of force as needed.
With this, though, you must understand that Maryland law observes a duty to retreat principle. This holds that you should have at least attempted to safely retreat from the posed danger before using deadly force. However, this does not apply if you were inside your own home at the time of this event, thanks to the separate “castle doctrine.”
Lastly, a self-defense argument may be difficult to adopt if the court is informed that you initiated the confrontation in the first place. This is unless you can somehow prove that you clearly communicated your attempt to withdraw from the conflict. But then, the other party escalated the conflict anyway.
What evidence can be used to support a self-defense claim?
Of course, you need more than just verbal statements to support your self-defense claim. So, for one, you may demonstrate how the other party made prior threats to your bodily harm before this incident took place. But since, to reiterate, the threat must have been imminent, you may need other types of proof, like witness testimonies and surveillance camera footage.
Unfortunately, if the Maryland criminal court does not accept your self-defense argument, they may charge you with a first-degree (i.e., serious injuries, use of weapons, or use of strangulation) or second-degree offense (i.e., lesser, non-fatal injuries). This may come with prison time of up to 25 years or 10 years, respectively, with a $2,500 fine.
Before it is too late to avoid this criminal charge, please obtain legal representation from one of the talented Prince George’s County criminal lawyers from Miller Berman. You will not regret having us in your corner.
