In Canada, assault with a weapon is a criminal offence under section 267(a) of the Criminal Code. The law describes someone who has committed assault with a weapon as, “Everyone who, in committing an assault, carries, uses or threatens to use a weapon or an imitation thereof, or causes bodily harm to the complainant.” No matter what the circumstances, it is important to seek out reputable counsel to defend your rights, freedom and reputation.
When one thinks of assault, they usually picture being inflicted by physical harm that leaves bruises or open wounds. While this sort of injury is certainly the results of abuse, assault charges are much more far-reaching. The basic definition of assault in Canada is the intention to apply force to someone else in a direct or indirect manner, without that person’s consent. This is a very important point to note the threat of assault is all that is required for an assault charge to be legally given. Actual injury does NOT have to occur in order for an assault charge to occur. The most important points of an assault charge are that the person being charged had direct intent to inflict harm, and that the person being harmed did not give consent.
Mississauga assault lawyers are tasked with defending a number of different types of assault charges. Some of these include:
Assault Causing Bodily Harm is a crime resulting from the act of intending to apprehend or cause harm to another individual through offensive contact. A verbal or visual threat does not qualify until either direct or indirect contact has been made.
The offence of assault with a weapon or causing bodily harm occurs when a person:
(a) Carries, uses or threatens to use a weapon or an imitation thereof, or
(b) Causes bodily harm to someone.
A weapon can be something like a gun or a knife, however, depending on how it is used, almost anything can be a weapon – a pen, a bottle, even a frying pan if a person uses it, or threatens to use it, to cause bodily harm.
Aggravated assault is an attempt to cause serious bodily harm to an individual with disregard for human life. Factors that raise an assault to the aggravated level typically include the use of a weapon, the status of the victim, the intent of the perpetrator, and the degree of injury caused.
When acts of violence occur to a police officer, this has its own charge, but is prosecuted in a similar manner to other charges. Depending on circumstances, a police officer assault charge can be a summary conviction, or it can be an indictable offense. It depends on the act.
Sexual assault is any unwanted sexual behaviour that makes a person feel uncomfortable, threatened or scared. It covers:
“Domestic” can mean a relationship between a husband and wife, a parent and child, sexual partners, siblings, or even other more broadly defined “domestic” relationships. This is ultimately a decision for the Court to conclude as to whether or not a crime is “domestic” for the purpose of sentencing.
Assault with a weapon is a hybrid offence. This means that the Crown prosecutor chooses whether the offence will be treated as a less serious summary conviction offence, or a more serious indictable offence. If found guilty on summary conviction a person convicted of assault with a weapon will be liable to imprisonment for a maximum of eighteen months. If convicted on indictment a person will be liable to imprisonment for a maximum of 10 years.
This offence is considered a very serious crime and therefore consequences are severe. Under section 267 of the Criminal Code of Canada, the maximum sentence for assault with a weapon is ten years in prison. Should the Crown proceed by way of summary conviction, the maximum sentence would be 18 months imprisonment.
Since assault with a deadly weapon covers such a wide range of circumstances, a detailed examination of the facts of your case is critical to developing a successful defense. A knowledgeable local attorney can help explain the details of local assault statutes and examine the facts of your case for potential defenses. Find an experienced criminal defense attorney near you and get some peace of mind.
The very first step of bringing client onboard is to have a no obligation consultation.
Then comes the evaluation of the situation. And building the case background.
After building the whole case, now is the time to fight it in the court.
As we fight the case, we keep on collecting more information to support the case.
