Assault & Threat Crimes

Assault & Threat Crimes

You got charged last week, maybe charged with simple assault after a bar fight in Jersey City where you punched someone causing a bloody nose and the police arrested you on the spot, maybe charged with aggravated assault after a domestic violence incident where you allegedly struck your partner with a frying pan causing a fracture that required hospitalization and now they’re claiming serious bodily injury with a weapon, maybe charged with terroristic threats after an argument with your ex where you sent text messages saying “I’ll kill you” and “I’ll burn your house down” and they reported it to police who showed up at your door with a warrant, maybe charged with harassment after making repeated late-night phone calls to someone who told you to stop but you kept calling anyway and they filed a complaint at municipal court, maybe charged with criminal coercion after you threatened to expose embarrassing information about someone unless they paid you money or did what you demanded. You don’t know whether you’re facing a disorderly persons offense that stays in municipal court with six months maximum jail or an indictable offense that gets forwarded to Superior Court with years in state prison. You don’t know the difference between simple assault under N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1 which is a disorderly persons offense versus aggravated assault under the same statute which is indictable and carries years depending on degree. You don’t know whether terroristic threats are more serious than harassment. You don’t know if federal charges apply because the threat crossed state lines via email or social media or involved a federal officer. You’re concerned about whether you’ll lose your job if convicted, whether this will show up on background checks forever, whether you’ll be able to travel if you’re on probation or parole, whether you’ll face mandatory prison time if convicted of a second-degree aggravated assault. The answer depends on multiple factors including the specific charge, the degree of the offense, the identity of the victim, whether a weapon was used, whether serious bodily injury occurred, whether you have prior criminal history, and whether the prosecution can prove every element beyond a reasonable doubt. Simple assault charges are handled in your local municipal court where the maximum penalty is six months in county jail and a $1,000 fine with no possibility of state prison. Aggravated assault charges, terroristic threats charges, and criminal coercion charges are initially filed in municipal court but then forwarded to the county prosecutor’s office where a prosecutor reviews the case file and decides whether to present it to a grand jury for indictment or downgrade it back to municipal court as a disorderly persons offense. Federal assault and threat charges are prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office in federal court where penalties can range from years to decades depending on the statute and the circumstances. Thanks for visiting Spodek Law Group, a second-generation law firm managed by Todd Spodek. We’ve represented clients charged with assault and threat crimes for over 40 years, many, many cases at municipal courts throughout New Jersey for simple assault and harassment charges, many, many cases at county Superior Courts for aggravated assault and terroristic threats prosecutions. If you’re reaching out to us – we understand the stakes you’re facing.

Assault Charges in New Jersey

Simple assault under N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1(a) occurs when you attempt to cause or purposely, knowingly, or recklessly cause bodily injury to another person, or when you negligently cause bodily injury with a deadly weapon, or when you physically menace another by putting them in fear of imminent serious bodily injury. Simple assault is a disorderly persons offense punishable by up to six months in county jail and a $1,000 fine. If the assault occurred during a fight or scuffle entered into by mutual consent it’s downgraded to a petty disorderly persons offense with a maximum of 30 days jail and a $500 fine. Common simple assault scenarios include bar fights, shoving matches, domestic disputes involving minor physical contact, or threatening gestures that put someone in fear. Aggravated assault under N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1(b) is far more serious and occurs when you cause serious bodily injury purposely or knowingly or under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life, when you attempt to cause or purposely or knowingly cause bodily injury with a deadly weapon, when you cause bodily injury while fleeing or attempting to elude police, or when you assault certain protected persons including police officers, firefighters, EMTs, teachers, or judges. Aggravated assault is graded by degree based on the circumstances. Fourth-degree aggravated assault carries up to eighteen months in state prison and a $10,000 fine. Third-degree aggravated assault carries three to five years in state prison and a $15,000 fine. Second-degree aggravated assault carries five to ten years in state prison and a $150,000 fine and triggers the No Early Release Act requiring you to serve 85% of the sentence before parole eligibility.

Threat crimes in New Jersey include terroristic threats, harassment, and criminal coercion with vastly different penalties depending on which statute applies. Terroristic threats under N.J.S.A. 2C:12-3 occur when you threaten to commit any crime of violence with the purpose to terrorize another person or to cause evacuation of a building, place of assembly, or facility of public transportation, or to cause serious public inconvenience, or in reckless disregard of causing such terror or inconvenience. The key element is purpose to terrorize, not merely to anger or annoy. Terroristic threats is a third-degree indictable offense carrying three to five years in state prison and a $15,000 fine. Examples include threatening to kill someone and reasonably causing them to fear for their life, making bomb threats, threatening to harm students at a school, workplace violence threats, or threats to harm public officials. The threat must be a “true threat” under First Amendment analysis, not merely political hyperbole, jest, or protected speech. Harassment under N.J.S.A. 2C:33-4 is less serious and occurs when with purpose to harass another you make offensive communications anonymously or at extremely inconvenient hours or in offensively coarse language, subject another to striking, kicking, shoving or other offensive touching, or engage in any other course of alarming conduct or repeatedly commit acts with purpose to alarm or seriously annoy. Harassment is a petty disorderly persons offense with a maximum of 30 days in jail and a $500 fine. Criminal coercion under N.J.S.A. 2C:13-5 occurs when you threaten to inflict bodily injury, accuse someone of a criminal offense, expose a secret, take official action, or cause a strike or boycott, with purpose to unlawfully restrict another’s freedom of action. Criminal coercion is a fourth-degree crime carrying up to eighteen months in state prison, or a third-degree crime if the threat is to commit a more serious offense or if your purpose is criminal.

Federal assault and threat charges apply when the offense involves a federal officer, occurs on federal property, or crosses state lines via interstate communications. Assault on a federal officer under 18 U.S.C. § 111 carries up to eight years if simple assault and up to twenty years if you use a deadly weapon or inflict serious bodily injury. Assaults within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States under 18 U.S.C. § 113 include federal property like military bases or Indian reservations and penalties range from six months for simple assault to twenty years for assault with intent to commit murder. Interstate communications containing threats under 18 U.S.C. § 875 carry up to five years and apply when you transmit threats via phone, email, text message, or social media across state lines with intent to extort or threaten injury. Federal charges are prosecuted in United States District Court by Assistant United States Attorneys and involve federal sentencing guidelines that often result in longer sentences than comparable state charges.

Defenses to assault and threat charges include self-defense when you reasonably believed you faced imminent unlawful force and used proportional force to protect yourself, defense of others when you acted to protect a third party from harm, lack of intent when the contact was accidental or the threat was not meant seriously, consent in limited circumstances like mutual combat, false accusation when the alleged victim fabricated the claims or misidentified you, and First Amendment protection when the alleged threat is political speech, hyperbole, jest, or not a “true threat” that a reasonable person would interpret as expressing serious intent to harm. For terroristic threats specifically the prosecution must prove purpose to terrorize, not merely purpose to frighten momentarily or express anger. For aggravated assault the prosecution must prove the enhanced elements like serious bodily injury or use of a deadly weapon. Prosecutors bear the burden of proving every element beyond a reasonable doubt and if they cannot meet this burden you’re entitled to acquittal.

Call 212-300-5196.