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There are various kinds of assault in Maryland. You can be charged with a first degree assault,
which is sometimes referred to as a felony assault, or a second degree assault, which
is sometimes referred to as a simple assault.
The difference between these two kinds of charges is dramatic because of the amount of time that they potentially carry.
A misdemeanor assault for example can carry a period of up to 10 years of incarceration
but a felony assault can go all the way up to 25 years of incarceration.
Starting with a misdemeanor assault. I can tell you that usually these kinds of assaults
are what you would typically expect to see in a bar fight or with a minor domestic violence
dispute. In these kinds of situations there is usually no permanent or serious physical
injury to another party, but rather just some unconsented to touching or contact with another person.
Usually these cases are handled by the District Court in Maryland. The District Court, which
is responsible for primarily prosecuting misdemeanor cases, is going to hear misdemeanor assault
or assault second degree cases usually on a docket.
That docket is going to have many other similar types of charges on it, and a prosecutor is
going to be working all of those cases with the various defense attorneys in that room.
Usually when somebody is charged with a misdemeanor assault offense, they can expect that they
are going to be questioned by the police, they are going to obviously give a statement,
usually their version of events, and usually there is going to be an inquiry into the level
and seriousness of the injuries that might takes place against another party in the course
of that assault.
What you should know is that immediately after you are charged with an assault or during
an assault investigation, particularly for a misdemeanor assault, you should not answer
any questions about what your version of the events was.
Very likely the police officers are going to arrest you anyway, and are trying to get
you to commit to statements before you have hired an attorney so that they can be used
against you in a court of law.
Usually committing to statements like this in the heat of a moment immediately after
your arrested, or during the course of an investigation for an assault, can be extremely
detrimental when your faced with a criminal charge on your court date.
In a felony assault case where there is often permanent injury, some sort of serious physical
injury, or the threat of death or serious physical harm you are going to see that case handled in the Circuit Court of Maryland.
handled in the Circuit Court of Maryland.
Again, Circuit Court is a place where primarily felonies are prosecuted, and these are typically
more serious types of cases, sometimes involving a weapon, and again often involving very serious physical injury to another party.
The investigation process is the same as it would be in a misdemeanor assault situation,
where a police officer might come to the scene, might ask for interviews from various people
who were involved, particularly the person that is accused.
Again, in this situation you do not want to present the officer or whoever is investigating
the matter with too much information before contacting an attorney because, for the same
reason, they are trying to build a case against you and these statements can often be used
in a court of law to prosecute your case.