If you have been arrested for aggravated assault, then you need to hire an experienced criminal defense lawyer who can provide the best legal defense for a violent crime.
An aggravated assault occurs when you cause serious bodily injury to another person, or you use or exhibit a deadly weapon during the commission of the assault. Serious bodily injury occurs when there is a substantial risk of death or actual death, serious permanent disfigurement, or protracted loss of use or impairment of any bodily function.
An aggravated assault is a 2nd degree felony which means if convicted, you could receive a minimum of two years and up to a maximum of twenty years in the Texas Department of Corrections and up to a $10,000.00. However, an aggravated assault can be a first-degree felony if it is committed against a public servant or a security officer who is acting in their official capacity at the time of the assault. Which means if convicted, you could receive a minimum of five years and up to a maximum of ninety-nine years or life in the Texas Department of Corrections and up to a $10,000.00.
(a) A person commits an offense if the person commits assault as defined in Sec. 22.01 and the person: (1) causes serious bodily injury to another, including the person’s spouse; or (2) uses or exhibits a deadly weapon during the commission of the assault. (b) An offense under this section is a felony of the second degree, except that the offense is a felony of the first degree if: (1) the actor uses a deadly weapon during the commission of the assault and causes serious bodily injury to a person whose relationship to or association with the defendant is described by Section 71.0021(b), 71.003, or 71.005, Family Code; (2) regardless of whether the offense is committed under Subsection (a)(1) or (a)(2), the offense is committed: (A) by a public servant acting under color of the servant’s office or employment; (B) against a person the actor knows is a public servant while the public servant is lawfully discharging an official duty, or in retaliation or on account of an exercise of official power or performance of an official duty as a public servant; (C) in retaliation against or on account of the service of another as a witness, prospective witness, informant, or person who has reported the occurrence of a crime; or (D) against a person the actor knows is a security officer while the officer is performing a duty as a security officer; or (3) the actor is in a motor vehicle, as defined by Section 501.002, Transportation Code, and: (A) knowingly discharges a firearm at or in the direction of a habitation, building, or vehicle; (B) is reckless as to whether the habitation, building, or vehicle is occupied; and (C) in discharging the firearm, causes serious bodily injury to any person. (c) The actor is presumed to have known the person assaulted was a public servant or a security officer if the person was wearing a distinctive uniform or badge indicating the person’s employment as a public servant or status as a security officer. (d) In this section, “security officer” means a commissioned security officer as defined by Section 1702.002, Occupations Code, or a noncommissioned security officer registered under Section 1702.221, Occupations Code.