Charge 03 / Assault
Assault charges
Simple assault, aggravated assault, a fight outside a bar on Beale Street, an argument that ended with a 911 call. Assault cases usually come down to who is believed, and the first report is rarely the whole story.
We find the other witnesses: the friend who walked away, the bouncer, the neighbor who heard it start. We pull phone video, door cameras and the 911 recording itself, which often says something different from the report written hours later.
Self-defense is a defense, not an excuse. If you were protecting yourself or someone else, we build that case from the start, with the injuries, the timeline and the people who saw it.
Many assault charges come with a no-contact condition on your bond. Follow it to the letter, even if the other person reaches out first. We can ask the court to change it; you can't change it yourself.
What we gather
Evidence that tends to disappear
- 01
Phone and door-camera video
Bystanders delete clips, and many cameras record over themselves within days.
- 02
The 911 call
The first words to the dispatcher, before anyone had time to shape a story.
- 03
Medical records
Whose injuries match whose account of the fight.
- 04
Witnesses the police missed
People leave before officers arrive. We go and find them.
Questions
If you're charged with assault
The other person wants to drop the charges. Can they?
Not on their own. The prosecutor decides whether the case goes forward, though what the other person wants can matter.
I was defending myself. Why was I charged?
Officers often charge whoever looks like they won. Self-defense is decided later, in negotiation or at trial, and we raise it early.
What makes an assault aggravated?
Usually a weapon, a serious injury, or a victim such as an officer. It raises the charge to a felony in most places.
Charged with assault?
Don't post about it, and don't contact the other person. Call us, and keep the bond paperwork handy.