San Antonio Domestic Violence Attorney
Assault Bodily Injury (Married)
For couples that have been married at length, they can tell you that marriage can be like running a marathon. When couples are faced with raising children, enduring financial struggles and sometimes even contentious family matters, they can be faced with many turbulent times throughout their marriage. For most people marriage takes work and it's not uncommon for marriages to see their fair share of ups and downs. Unfortunately, when anybody, even married couples argue, things can quickly take a turn for the worse and spiral out of control. However, when a couple's private disputes turn physical, the police and the courts can get involved.
In the state of Texas assault is against the law, even when it occurs against one's own spouse. Under §22.01 a person commits an offense when they intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly cause bodily injury to another person, including their spouse, or when they intentionally or knowingly threaten imminent bodily injury on another person, or their spouse.
An offense under this subsection is a Class A misdemeanor offense. The penalties for a Class A misdemeanor in Texas include up to one year incarceration in jail and/or fines up to $4,000. However, if the person did not commit bodily injury but they threatened to cause bodily injury, or if they caused their spouse to reasonably believe they were in danger of imminent bodily injury, then they can be charged with a Class C misdemeanor offense.
San Antonio Domestic Violence Lawyer
If a husband or wife causes serious bodily injury to their spouse, or if they exhibit a deadly weapon during the assault against them, then the defendant is guilty of a felony in the second degree which is punishable by anywhere from 2 to 20 years in the Texas Department of Corrections and/or fines up to $10,000. As you can see, it's not difficult for a heated argument to become extremely serious when you actually cause injury to your spouse or if you display a weapon, or worse, use a dangerous weapon during an assault.
The state of Texas takes family violence cases very seriously, and therefore punishes them extensively in order to set an example to others in the community. As there are often no witnesses to a domestic violence assault, it's critical that you enlist a San Antonio domestic violence attorney from The Law Office of John J. Fox as soon as you possibly can. It's not uncommon for spouses to make false allegations about domestic violence, especially in a contested divorce or heated child custody battle. Even misdemeanor charges for assaulting your spouse can send you to jail and ruin your reputation and your career. We understand how sensitive these types of cases are and we are here to help in every way that we possibly can. If you are being accused of assaulting your spouse, please contact our firm immediately.
If you are being accused of assaulting your spouse, please contact a San Antonio domestic violence attorney from the firm to schedule a free consultation.
