Articles Tagged with assault

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In the District of Columbia, there are multiple assault offenses that you can be charged with. Two of the most common are misdemeanor simple assault and felony assault with significant bodily injury. There are many differences between the two crimes including the added element of significant bodily injury to felony assault. The maximum penalties are also different and whether the defendant is entitled to a jury trial is different. However, some similarities exist. For example, the United States Attorney’s Office prosecutes both offenses and the same defenses are available to each offense.

What are the Maximum Penalties for Felony and Misdemeanor Assault?

The main difference between the two are the potential maximum penalties and the requirement for felony assault to cause a “significant bodily injury.” Simple assault is a misdemeanor charge with a maximum penalty of 180 days in jail and up to a $1,000.00 fine. Assault with significant bodily injury carries a maximum penalty of up to three years in prison and a maximum $3,000.00 fine. Continue reading

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Most crimes by law cannot be prosecuted if a certain period of time has elapsed between the time of the incident and the time the victim reports the incident. This is referred to as the “statute of limitations.” For the most serious types of sexual assault (first and second degree), the statute of limitations is 15 years. For third- and fourth-degree sexual assault, the statute of limitations is 10 years.

Sexual assault is a serious crime that is aggressively prosecuted in the District of Columbia. To understand what conduct constitutes sex assault, the District of Columbia Code sets out four degrees of behavior. D.C. Code 22-3002 defines first degree sexual assault and provides a maximum penalty for the crime at life imprisonment.

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