Aggravated Assault by Vehicle In Philadelphia
Aggravated Assault by Vehicle is a serious crime. Any time someone is seriously injured due to your actions, you can be charged with Aggravated Assault. Although criminal law typically only calls for you to be found guilty if you intentionally commit a crime, if you seriously injure a person using a vehicle, you could very well be charged by the police with Aggravated Assault by Vehicle regardless of your intentions.
Your intent to injure the other person will come down to a legal issue, and police may choose to charge you and leave it up to the lawyers to sort out the legal issue later. This is important because, even if you have a good driving history, it may not make a difference.
You will need a strong defense to overcome the assumption that you intend to injure another person. The Law Offices of Greg Prosmushkin, P.C. can provide that defense.
What Is Aggravated Assault with a Vehicle?
To be guilty of Aggravated Assault with a Vehicle, a person must recklessly or with gross negligence cause a serious bodily injury to another person while committing a Traffic Offense.
For example, a person drags racing that injures another person can be found guilty of Aggravated Assault by Vehicle because the act of drag racing is designated as reckless under Pennsylvania law, and it constitutes a traffic offense.
In another example, a person could be merely texting while driving and hitting another person, causing serious bodily injury to that person. In this case, the person texting is grossly negligent because they are not paying attention to the road. It, therefore, can also be found guilty of Aggravated Assault by Vehicle.
Penalties for Aggravated Assault by Vehicle
If you are charged with this crime, you will face a Third Degree Felony, which carries a significant jail sentence of up to seven years and a maximum financial penalty of up to $15,000.00.
If it is alleged that you did this in a work zone, you are looking at an additional penalty of two years imprisonment. It is even worse if you were charged with Driving Under the Influence while seriously injuring another person.
How We Defend Against Aggravated Assault By Vehicle
We defend against aggravated assault by vehicle by carefully examining the evidence and charges against you and determining the best course of action. In addition to using our decades of experience in defending your matter, we examine your eligibility for specific defenses.
These specific defenses are: whether the police charged you with reckless driving (or allege it in the complaint), whether police can put you in the car at the time of the alleged aggravated assault by vehicle, whether your actions can be deemed “reckless” or “grossly negligent,” and finally, any mitigating evidence from your life story or character that will reduce any penalties that may apply.
Penalties If You Are Also Charged with DUI
The government would have a lower burden of proof if you were also charged with DUI. In this case, the government only has to prove that your conduct was negligent, the injury was related to the act of Driving Under the Influence, and the person hit suffered life-threatening or disfiguring injuries or impairment of any function of a body part.
Under the standard above, if a pedestrian crosses the street and doesn’t see you but is seriously hurt, you can be charged with a much higher penalty when normally you would not be at fault because the pedestrian darted in front of your car.
Why Do I Need an Attorney for Aggravated Assault by Vehicle?
These are severe offenses and require the counsel and representation of expert Criminal Defense Lawyers in Philadelphia. Seven years in prison…fifteen thousand dollars in fines…ten years in prison.. aren’t negligible fines or the legal equivalent of a slap on the wrist. These are serious penalties for a serious crime.