The California Penal Code, Section 240, defines assault as “an unlawful attempt, coupled with a present ability, to commit a violent injury on the person of another." Assault is either the threat or attempt to strike another, whether successful or not, where the target is aware of the danger. There is a requirement that the assaulter must be reasonably capable of carrying through with the attack. If the assault is with a deadly weapon, such as sniping with a rifle, the intended victim does not need to know of the peril. California state law distinguishes between first or second degrees of assault depending on whether there is actual hitting, injury or just a threat. Thus, an assault charge may be either a misdemeanor or a felony. A misdemeanor assault conviction may result in incarceration in the county jail and/or fines. A felony assault conviction may result in incarceration in the state prison or county jail, and fines. Some assaults are termed “wobblers" which means that it can be either a misdemeanor or a felony. It is up to the prosecuting attorney in filing the case as either crime, and then up to the judge to sentence the assault offense as either a felony or a misdemeanor. Assault is both a criminal wrong, for which one may be charged and tried, and civil wrong for which the target may sue for damages due to the assault, including for mental distress.



Normally, an assault conviction is punishable by a fine not exceeding $1,000, or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months, or by both the fine and imprisonment.

However, there are some situations where the assault will be punished differently, dependent on who the victim was and where the assault occurred:

?When an assault is committed against the person of a peace

officer, firefighter, emergency medical technician, mobile intensive care paramedic, lifeguard, process server, traffic officer, code enforcement officer, or animal control officer engaged in the performance of his or her duties, or a physician or nurse engaged in rendering emergency medical care outside a hospital, clinic, or other health care facility, and the person committing the offense knows or reasonably should know this, the assault is punishable by a fine not exceeding $2,000, or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one year, or by both the fine and imprisonment.

?When an assault is committed against the person of a custodial officer as defined in Penal Code Section 831 or 831.5, and the person committing the offense knows or reasonably should know this, the offense shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one year or by imprisonment in the state prison (wobbler).

?When an assault is committed on school or park property against any person, the assault is punishable by a fine not exceeding $2,000, or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment.

?When an assault is committed against any person on the property of, or on a motor vehicle of, a public transportation provider, such as a taxi, bus, or metrolink train, the offense shall be punished by a fine not to exceed $2,000, or by imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed one year, or by both the fine and imprisonment.

?When an assault is committed against a school employee and the person committing the offense knows or reasonably should know the victim is a school employee, the assault is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by a fine not exceeding $2,000, or by both the fine and imprisonment.

?When an assault is committed against a juror involved in a civil or criminal case of the defendant, the assault is punishable by a fine not to exceed $2,000, or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one year, or by both such fine and

imprisonment, or by imprisonment in the state prison (wobbler).

?When an assault is committed against a member of the United States Armed Forces because of the victim's service in the United States Armed Forces, the assault shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $2,000, by imprisonment in a county jail for a period not exceeding one year, or by both that fine and

imprisonment.

Aggravated Aggravated assault is the crime of physically attacking another person with a deadly or dangerous weapon such as a gun, knife, sword, ax or blunt instrument, which results in serious bodily harm. Aggravated assault is an attack connected with the commission of another crime, such as beating a clerk during a robbery or some other type of physical assault. Aggravated assault is usually a felony or a wobbler, punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for two, three, or four years, or in a county jail for not exceeding one year, or by a fine not exceeding $10,000, or by both the fine and imprisonment.



Defenses

Where one uses assault to defend oneself or another from imminent bodily injury, the assault is justified, so long as both the belief and the amount of force used were necessary. The law uses a reasonableness standard. This measures not what the person thought was reasonable, but rather whether an average person (who is reasonable) in the same or similar circumstances, would have believed that the threat of bodily injury was about to happen. The amount of force used must be just enough to avert the threatened bodily injury. For example, where someone is being attacked with a fist, the use of a knife (deadly weapon) exceeds the original threat. But where a knife is used to threaten, the use of a gun would be appropriate, given that these are both deadly weapons.