Cumming and Surrounding Areas Assault & Battery Attorney

Defending Clients in Forsyth & Gwinnett Counties - Serving Forsyth, Gwinnett Counties, and North Georgia - Call (678) 257-4507

The Epps Law Group represents clients charged with assault and battery in Cumming and throughout Forsyth and Gwinnett Counties. Our Cumming criminal defense attorney has 20 years of legal experience and 30 years of experience in the criminal justice system, as a former police officer, prosecutor, and Judge Pro Tem.

Assault & Battery Laws in Georgia

In the state of Georgia, assault and battery may be charged as either misdemeanors or felonies, depending on the degree of the crime. For example, simple assault and battery are classified as misdemeanors, while aggravated assault and battery are generally charged as felonies. Regardless of the degree, the goal is to avoid conviction and the resulting criminal record, whenever possible.

The degrees of assault and battery include:

• Simple Assault: An individual may face this charge for attempting to injure another person or putting them in a situation in which serious injury may result. Threatening to injure someone is enough to be charged with a violation of the law.
• Aggravated Assault: An assault is aggravated when the individual commits assault with a deadly weapon or with the intent to rob, rape, or murder.
• Simple Battery: When one person intentionally makes physical contact or intentionally causes harm to another, he or she may be charged with simple battery.
• Aggravated Battery: The battery charge may be aggravated when a serious injury was intentionally inflicted on another, resulting in serious disfigurement or loss of a limb or the use of that limb. Serious disfigurement includes broken bones or scars that alter the person’s appearance.
• Hate Crimes: Assault or battery may be charged as a hate crime if the victim was injured as a result of prejudice or bias.

The punishment for conviction depends on the degree of the charge and type of injury. This can range from up to a year in jail and fines of up to $1,000 for simple assault to up to 20 years in prison for aggravated battery.

Self-Defense Claims in Assault Cases

Self-defense is a basic human right. If you are being attacked, or fear for your life, you have the right to use force, even deadly force, to protect yourself. Unfortunately, in some cases, assault charges are brought against the person who was only trying to protect themselves, their property, or another human being. Self-defense is a legal defense commonly asserted by those charged with crimes of violence, such as battery, assault with a deadly weapon, or murder. When a defendant asserts self-defense in a criminal case, the defendant admits that he or she did in fact use force, but claims that their use of force was justified by the other person’s threatening or violent actions.

Georgia law allows you to use self-defense in very few circumstances:

1. You are justified to use self-defense when you reasonably believe that using force is necessary to defend yourself from being physically attacked, or to defend a third person from being physically attacked.
2. You are justified to use deadly force, that is intended or likely to cause death or great bodily harm, only if you reasonably believe that deadly force is necessary to prevent death or great bodily injury to yourself or to a third person.
3. You are justified to use deadly force to prevent another person from committing a violent felony.

“Stand Your Ground” Law:

• Under Georgia’s “stand your ground” law, you have the right to use deadly force against an attacker, even if there is an opportunity to safely retreat, and if you reasonably believe you are in fear of death or grave bodily harm when using such force. However, it does not mean you’re justified in pursuing someone who’s no longer a threat. Additionally, the level of force used to defend yourself should be roughly equivalent to the amount of force threatened against you.

Under Georgia law, you are not justified in using self-defense, if:

• You were the initial aggressor who provoked another person to attack you as an excuse to inflict bodily harm upon that person.
• You were committing a felony or fleeing after committing a felony.
• You were engaged in a combat by agreement, and the other person withdraws from the encounter or communicates his/her intent to withdraw, and you still continued or threatened to continue the use of unlawful force.

Schedule Your Free Consultation with Our Cumming Assault & Battery Lawyer

At The Epps Law Group, we offer a free consultation with an assault and battery lawyer in Cumming. During the consultation, we will evaluate your case, answer your questions, and make sure you have an accurate understanding of the possible consequences you are facing.