Assault charges
When a fight becomes a charge
Most assault cases start with a bad minute and one person’s account of it. The police report is usually written from a single point of view, and it is rarely the whole story.
Emeka Obiora handles these cases. He starts by getting everything the state has: the 911 call, body camera video, photographs and any medical records. Then he sits down with you and goes through it line by line.
A conviction can follow you into housing, work and licensing, so we talk about the record from the first meeting, not the last.
Charges we take
The assault charges we take
The label on the charge matters less than what the state has to prove. We take all of these.
Simple assault
The lowest grade, and still a record. It often turns on one person’s word against another’s.
Aggravated assault
A serious felony charge where injury, a weapon or the person hurt changes the grade.
Weapons and related counts
Possession and use allegations that are added to an assault charge or stand alone.
How it goes
From the first call to the verdict
The steps are the same for most clients. The timing depends on the court.
- 01
Step 1: We hear your account
Before anything else, we ask what happened in your words, then what the police say happened.
- 02
Step 2: We request everything
Video, recordings, reports and statements, requested in writing and tracked in one list.
- 03
Step 3: We prepare you for each hearing
You will know what the judge is deciding that day, and what we will ask for.
Assault charge questions
Can the charge be dropped if the other person doesn’t want to go forward?
Sometimes, but the decision belongs to the prosecutor, not the person who called the police. We explain what that means in your case.
Should I contact the other person?
Please don’t, even to apologize. Messages can be used as evidence. Call us first and we will tell you what is safe to do.
What if I was defending myself?
Self-defense is a defense the state has to answer. We look at what you could see and do at the time, and what the witnesses saw.
Facing an assault charge?
Call and tell us what happened. We will explain the charge and the next court date in plain words.
Please do not send confidential details through this site until we have spoken.