SIMPLE ASSAULT—2C:12-1(a)
ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE:
2C:12-1 Assault NJ…Simple Assault, section (a)
You are on the golf course enjoying an opportunity to sneak away from the office for a few holes with the guys. As you approach the fifth (5th) hole, you are confronted by an obnoxious golfer who says that “…he will let you know when your party can start playing this hole.” You’ve had a rough quarter and you’re in no mood for a ration of b.s. from a loud mouth without authority to order you around. You ask “…Who died and made you the referee? We’re going to start teeing off whether you like it or not,” he shouts back “Oh, yeah?”—and with that, you start walking toward him with a 9 iron in your hands and as you approach you wield the club like a katana, vigorously swinging the club at his head. You miss and he runs off. Luckily for you, you have caused no personal injury. But have you just committed a criminal offense?
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACT LIABILITY FOR
You and your spouse or cohabiting lover have not been getting along lately. You learn from a colleague that he or she has purchased and maintains an internet dating website listing. You come home after work one evening and you confront him or her.
You ask him or her if he or she is stepping out behind your back. His or her answer sounds to you like an obvious lie and you lose your cool. You walk toward him or her, you invade his or her body space, you raise your fist, you pin him or her to the wall, and you say “if I ever catch you cheating on me I’ll beat you senseless.” Have you just committed the quazi-criminal offense of violating the dictates of the Domestic Violence Act, e.g., N.J.S.A. 2C:25-1, et seq.?
SIMPLE ASSAULT NJ
a. Simple assault. A person is guilty of assault if he:
(1) “Attempts to cause or purposely, knowingly, or recklessly causes bodily injury to another; or
(2) Negligently causes bodily injury to another with a deadly weapon; or
(3) Attempts by physical menace to put another in fear of imminent serious bodily injury. Simple assault is a disorderly persons offense unless committed in a fight or scuffle entered into by mutual consent, in which case it is a petty disorderly persons offense.”
So, the answer with regard to criminal liability is YES. If convicted, your exposure would be the imposition on sentencing of a fine of up to one thousand dollars ($1,000.00), plus possible jail time of a low of zero (0) days to a high of one hundred and eighty (180 days, plus a criminal record for violation of a disorderly persons offense, which is a criminal act that does not rise to the level of a felony (crime). N.J.S.A. 2C:43-8 You have (arguably) attempted to cause bodily injury under section a. (1) and/or attempted by physical menace to put the victim in fear of imminent serious bodily injury under section a. (3). The State must prove that you acted “purposefully” e.g., that your conscious object in engaging in swinging the golf club was to strike the victim and cause bodily injury or to intimidate the victim by threat of use of force. N.J.S.A. 2C:2-2(b)(1); State v. Clarke, 198 N.J. Super 219, 225-226, 661 A.2d 935 (App. Div. 1985). This nothing to mess around with. If charged with assault, rather than go hat in hand to the prosecutor and plead to this criminal charge, you should retain a skilled and experienced attorney immediately.
The state can also obtain conviction for an attempted assault if your state of mind during commission of the enact was “knowingly”, e.g., you were aware of your assaultive conduct and were practically certain that bodily injury to the victim would result from your conduct. N.J.S.A. 2C:2-2(b)(2).
The state can also obtain conviction for an attempted assault if your state of mind during commission of the act was “recklessly”, e.g., you consciously disregarded a substantial and unjustifiable risk that bodily injury to the victim would result from your conduct. N.J.S.A. 2C:2-2(b)(3)
Where the act is not a purposeful attempt to strike, but an actual strike, actual injury must occur to the victim. Bodily injury for purposes of simple assault is defined as “…physical pain, illness, or any impairment of physical condition”. N.J.S.A. 2C:11-1(a). However, had the facts been different and you had actually successfully struck the victim, a mere stinging sensation on the victims part would have been enough to constitute bodily injury.
Just to highlight the difference between simple assault and the more serious crime of aggravated assault, if the injury sustained were elevated to “serious bodily injury”, defined as “bodily injury that creates a substantial risk of death or which causes serious, permanent disfigurement or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any body part or organ”, N.J.S.A. 2C:11-1(b), and it was your purpose to inflict such a level of injury, the underlying offense would likely be elevated to aggravated assault.
And finally one can be convicted of assault with a deadly weapon if his state of mind at the time the act was committed was “…that he should be aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk that…” injury will result to the victim from his conduct. N.J.S.A. 2C: 2-2(b)(4)
Simple assault is a disorderly persons offense unless the actor assaults a uniformed police officer acting within the scope of his employment duties, a firefighter acting within the scope of his employment duties, members of the judiciary acting within the scope of their employment duties, a school bus driver, or school board employee, acting within the scope of their employment duties, and other public officials. N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1(b)(5)(a) through (g)
The answer is also YES (to fact pattern no. 2) with regard to violation of the Domestic Violence Act, e.g., N.J.S.A. 2C:25-1, et seq.. Under N.J.S.A. 2C:25-8, the municipal court judge in the township in which you reside has authority to issue temporary restraining orders (TRO) when the Superior Court, Family Part, is not open, e.g., on weekends, holidays, etc…Your significant other could avail himself or herself of the remedy of obtaining a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO). This is a remedy designed to prevent the defendant from having any verbal or physical contact whatsoever with the victim, or victim’s immediate family members residing with the victim, so as to shield the victim from acts of abuse. In other words, you could be ordered not to appear at, or go into, or with 500 feet of, the marital residence (home), and not to have any form of communication or contact with your significant other at all until such time as a Final Restraining Order (FRO) plenary hearing is had (developed infra). The sitting municipal court judge in the municipality in which you reside will also set bail which you must post in order to avoid immediate jail. A search of the marital residence will be conducted by police and confiscation of any guns, weapons, etc…, will be imposed until such time as you can prove to a judge that you are mentally stable enough to possess them. Willful violation of the dictates of the TRO would constitute a 4th degree crime with the imposition of possible jail time up to eighteen (18) months per violation. Your first court appearance would be in the municipal court which issued the TRO. Approximately two (2) weeks after issuance of the TRO you would be noticed to appear for a Plenary Hearing as to whether the TRO should ripen into a Final Restraining Order (FRO), in the Superior Court, Family Part, or whether the entire action should be dissolved (dismissed) on grounds that a determination has been made that no domestic violence took place. If the matter is converted to a FRO, you could be ordered to continue paying the roofing costs, e.g., mortgage, property taxes, utilities, etc., (even though you cannot set foot within 500 feet of the property)…until your marriage is legally dissolved and the property sold. Finally, the municipal court will hear the underlying charges and have jurisdiction over disposition of the underlying domestic violence type offense, e.g., to convict on the assault versus a resolution which requires anger management counseling in lieu of criminal conviction. At any rate, it’s no fun living at the Holiday Inn while your spouse lives in the marital residence.
If you are charged with assaulting your wife or significant other, the best practice is to retain a skilled and experienced attorney. Oftentimes I can get the charges downgraded or even dismissed.
