Being accused of assaulting someone can be a devastating experience. Besides the damage to your reputation, the penalties and collateral consequences if you are convicted are bound to hang over your head for a pretty long time.
Still, it helps to understand that you are presumed innocent until proven guilty of the assault in question. As such, it is in your best interest that you avoid these mistakes if you want to boost your odds of a favorable outcome in your assault case.
Speaking too much
When the police show up to arrest you, they will ask questions. Some, like your name and identity are standard and it is important that you answer them as accurately as possible. However, if the questions are incriminating, then you need to remember and exercise your Fifth Amendment rights.
Still on talking, be careful what you post on social media while under investigation for assault. Always remember that whereas you are free to post whatever you want on social media (provided it is legal), anything you post can be used against you in court provided that it is relevant to the assault case. You might want to keep off social media altogether while dealing with the matter.
Contacting your alleged victim
Let’s say that you are being accused of domestic assault, and you believe that the entire thing was either a setup or a misunderstanding, so you decide to reach out to your accuser to clear things up. Well, this can be a costly mistake, more so if they took out an order of protection against you.
Whatever you do, do not contact your accuser either directly or through a proxy. If you do, the court will likely be violating the terms of the protection order. Besides, your action may be construed as an attempt to defeat justice, and this will not make things any better for you.
Being accused of assault can be extremely intimidating, especially if the claims are untrue. Find out how you can safeguard your rights and interests when fighting back against an assault charge.
