Tumultuous encounters between police officers and the public have been well-documented in recent years. Regardless of what led up to the events taking place, assault on a police officer is not a charge that the state of New Jersey takes lightly. If you have found yourself in this situation, you should know that public officials and public employees are placed in a special category when it comes to New Jersey assault laws.
The First Amendment protects your right to verbally criticize anyone, and in fact, the law gives more protection to acts of speaking negatively about public figures than it does to people whose work does not make them publicly visible. Case law regarding defamation shows that the law considers it much more harmful to intentionally damage the reputations of private citizens than it is to attempt to sabotage the efforts of public figures to talk up their own good reputations.
Meanwhile, it is a crime to assault anyone, no matter who that person is, but it is a more serious crime if the victim of the assault is a police officer or public employee who was performing his or her job duties at the time of the assault. The New Jersey violent crimes defense lawyers at the Law Offices of Jonathan F. Marshall can help you if you are facing allegations of aggravated assault on a police officer or public employee.
What is the Difference Between Simple Assault and Aggravated Assault?
Simple assault is one of the least severe violent crimes with which a person can be charged under New Jersey law. Charges of simple assault apply when the defendant physically attacks the victim without a weapon, such as by slapping or punching the victim. You do not even have to make physical contact with the victim for your case to result in a simple assault conviction. It is enough to wave your fist in someone’s face and threaten to throw a punch, even if you do not actually hit the victim. An attack can still count as simple assault if the victim sustains injuries that require medical treatment, but if the injuries are very serious, the case becomes aggravated assault.
By contrast, aggravated assault is an assault where the victim suffers a serious injury or if the defendant acts in a way that is likely to cause serious injury, even if the victim manages to escape serious harm. If you use a weapon, the attack automatically counts as aggravated assault. The prosecution is also likely to pursue charges of aggravated assault if the victim’s injuries were severe enough to require inpatient treatment in a hospital, even if no weapons were involved.
Simple assault is a disorderly persons offense, which is the term that New Jersey law uses for crimes that other states refer to as misdemeanors. The maximum penalty for a simple assault conviction is a $1,000 fine and six months in jail. You might not even have to go to criminal court for a simple assault case since, in New Jersey, many disorderly persons offense cases go through the municipal courts instead of the criminal courts. Aggravated assault is a third-degree indictable offense, however. An indictable offense in New Jersey is the type of crime that other states call a felony; in other words, it is punishable by time in state prison. Depending on the aggravating circumstances and how badly the victim got injured, New Jersey prosecutors can also charge aggravated assault as a second-degree indictable offense. The penalties can include up to $150,000 in fines and up to 15 years in state prison.
Police Officers and Other Public Employees are Covered Under NJ 2C:12-1b(5) Aggravated Assault Law
The difference between simple assault and aggravated assault is that, in the case of aggravated assault, an aggravating factor is present so that the crime is somehow worse than a garden-variety act of physical violence. The seriousness of the victim’s injuries could be an aggravating factor, as could the victim’s age, vulnerable state of health, or relationship with the defendant. Pursuant to NJ 2C:12-1b(5), the victim’s occupation could also be an aggravating factor. Any assault on a police officer or public employee automatically counts as an aggravated assault, even if it does not involve weapons or severe injuries. The public employees covered under NJ 2C:12-1b(5) are as follows:
- A law enforcement officer, if the victim was in uniform or on duty at the time of the assault, or if the prosecution can prove that the defendant targeted the victim because he or she is a law enforcement officer
- A firefighter, whether paid or volunteer
- A person providing emergency medical or first aid services
- An employee of a public or private school or school board, including but not limited to teachers, school bus drivers, and school administrators
- An employee of the Department of Child Protection and Permanency, if the victim was on duty at the time of the assault, or if the prosecution can prove that the defendant targeted the victim because of his or her work with the Department of Child Protection and Permanency
- A judge of the municipal court, Tax Court, or any other state or federal court in New Jersey
- An operator of a public bus or train
- An employee in the corrections sector, including but not limited to employees of the Department of Corrections, county correction officers, and staff members of juvenile detention facilities
- Anyone who works as an employee or independent contractor for a utility company, including water, electricity, gas, cable, and telecommunications, if the victim was doing his or her job at the time of the assault
- A healthcare sector employee who provides direct care to patients (this includes physicians, nurses, medical assistants, nursing assistants, home health workers, and mental health counselors but excludes administrative employees of doctors’ offices and hospitals)
- Direct care workers at psychiatric hospitals, state developmental centers, and veterans’ memorial homes, as long as the defendant is not a beneficiary of the services of these institutions
Defenses to Aggravated Assault on A Police Officer
If your charges get upgraded to aggravated assault because the alleged victim is a police officer or in a protected profession, this does not automatically mean that you will be convicted of aggravated assault. If you plead not guilty, you may be able to persuade the jury that there is not enough evidence to prove that the alleged assault took place or that you were the one who committed it. You might also be able to cast doubt on the credibility of the testimony of the witnesses for the prosecution. You might also be able to argue that you did not know that the victim was engaged in his or her duties as a police officer or one of the other above professions. If this is the case, it makes you guilty of simple assault but not aggravated assault. For example, maybe you got into a verbal altercation with a woman in the checkout line of Wawa, and it escalated until you threw a punch, but you did not find out until after your arrest that she was an employee of the Department of Child Protection and Permanency because you had never met her before, and she was not wearing a badge or nametag that identified her employer. Regardless of your situation, contact our office for a free consultation if you have been charged with assault on a police officer or another public employee. We are familiar with defense strategies to best mitigate the penalties and negative outcomes of these offenses, and would love to discuss how we can help you.
