Call Us Now
Email Us Now
What Constitutes Assault?
In Ontario, if you’re charged – wrongly or rightly – with assault, what comes next, and what measures will you need to take? The first thing you must do is to get in touch with a Toronto assault lawyer for the sound legal advice and aggressive defence representation you will need.
What constitutes assault in Ontario? Under Canadian law, an assault happens when someone, without another person’s consent, intentionally applies force directly or indirectly to that other person. Canadian courts have determined that the legal definition of assault may also include:
- forcefully pretending to throw a punch at someone
- aggressively poking or pointing a finger at someone
- shoving or pinching
- words that reasonably cause others to fear that force will be used against them
What Are the Different Assault Charges?
You will need to be advised and represented by an Ontario assault lawyer if you face any of these assault charges in or near the Toronto area, and you’ll need to contact that lawyer immediately:
- Assault (or “simple” assault): Simple assault is an assault that does not involve a weapon and does not result in serious injury or serious bodily harm.
- Assault causing bodily harm: An assault that causes serious harm or injury and impairs the victim’s health or mobility constitutes assault causing bodily harm.
- Assault with a weapon: An assault with a weapon generally involves the use of an object such as a knife, a baseball bat, or even a dog that is ordered to attack someone.
- Aggravated assault: An assault that maims, wounds, slashes, breaks bones, disfigures, or endangers a victim’s life constitutes an aggravated assault.
How Are Specific Assault Charges Determined?
Criminal offences in Ontario are either indictable offences, summary offences, or hybrid offences which may be prosecuted as either indictment or summary offences.
The crown prosecutor will consider the severity, circumstances, and details of a particular assault offence. Convictions for indictable offences generally entail harsher penalties. Summary offences are considered less severe and convictions are generally penalized less severely.
Simple assault, assault with a weapon, and assault causing bodily harm are hybrid offences, but aggravated assault is strictly an indictable offence, and in aggravated assault cases, the crown prosecutor will seek a prison or jail sentence if the defendant is found guilty.
What Are the Penalties for Assault Convictions?
The defendant in an assault case could conceivably serve up to five years in prison if convicted for simple assault as an indictable offence, but that’s uncommon. Fines and probation are the more usual penalties for a simple assault conviction.
While a conviction for simple assault may not necessarily be penalized with time in jail, a conviction for any other assault charge is likely to result in a prison or jail sentence. If the victim was severely injured or disabled by the assault, a lengthy prison sentence is probable.
Someone who has received a conviction for any of these assault charges may also face genuine difficulties obtaining employment, travelling internationally, or becoming a Canadian citizen. If you are not a Canadian citizen, an assault conviction could even result in your deportation.
How Are You Allowed to Defend Yourself?
In Ontario, how are you allowed to defend yourself or others against an imminent assault? If you reasonably believe that you or another person or persons are at immediate risk of being assaulted, the law in Canada allows you to take reasonable action to protect yourself and others.
You are also allowed to take “reasonable” action – but not violent action – to defend your property from trespassing, vandalism, and theft.
Deadly force is allowed only in extremely exceptional situations – for instance, when such force is necessary to protect yourself or another person from serious injury or death. The courts in Canada do not consider deadly force reasonable when it is used in the defence of property alone.
Should You Claim That You Acted in Self-Defence?
In many assault cases, a self-defence claim will be the best defence strategy. When your legal defence against an assault charge is self-defence, you’re not denying that you committed the action; rather, you are claiming that you had a legal justification for the action you took.
If you claim that you acted in self-defence, in order to convict you, the crown prosecutor must demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt that you were not acting in self-defence, while your Toronto assault lawyer only has to demonstrate that you “probably” acted in self-defence.
There are, however, a number of misconceptions about self-defence. You are not allowed to use violence against someone who steals your property, for example, and you are not allowed to use a weapon against someone who is unarmed. In cases where there are no eyewitnesses, proving a self-defence claim is not easy and will require an experienced defence lawyer’s help.
What Else Should You Know About Assault Cases?
A self-defence claim is not the only defence strategy available to an assault defendant. A defendant could be the victim of mistaken identity, or a defendant could be the victim of a fabricated assault allegation.
If you are charged with assault, your Ontario assault lawyer will develop an appropriate defence strategy based on the particular details of your case. But how can you locate a lawyer who will fight for you aggressively and effectively and make your case a priority?
Put Your Assault Case in Our Hands at William Jaksa Criminal Litigation
If you’re facing any assault charge in or near the Toronto area, currently or in the future, Toronto criminal defence lawyer William Jaksa offers the sound legal advice and effective defence representation you need.
Defence lawyer William Jaksa brings almost two decades of experience to every client and every assault case. William Jaksa Criminal Litigation has built a reputation in the Toronto area for superlative client service and legal excellence. We advocate for the best outcome in every case.
If you are charged with assault, call William Jaksa Criminal Litigation immediately at 647-951-8078. Our team will use every necessary legal tool to fight for and secure the justice you need.
