If you are charged with assault and battery, your criminal defense attorney in Broward County may need to assess the factors involved your case to determine a viable defense for the crime. Assault and battery charges are commonly charged juveniles. Your criminal defense attorney in Broward County can explain which defense strategy is best based on your individual circumstances.

What is Juvenile Assault and Battery? 

Whether the accused is a child or a teenager, assault and battery usually occur through intentional threats by word, violence by action or a combination of the two. The person must have the ability to engage in the threatened harm and then willfully follow through in an unlawful manner. The victim must fear the defendant and believe that violence is imminent or suffer through a physical altercation.

Defenses for Juvenile Assault and Battery 

The two strongest defenses for these crimes involve self-defense from an attacker and mutual combative events. The youth may have the right to defend himself or herself against the alleged victim if there is an imminent threat of bodily harm. Mutual combative events occur when both parties are in a fight and they are both equally at fault for the injuries incurred. For example, two juveniles may agree to fight after school.

Another potential defense against assault and battery charges involve a lack of intentional harm, such as an accident. Assault and battery involve intent to cause the other party fear of harm, so if an incident was merely accidental, such as accidentally bumping into someone, the charges should be dismissed.