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Assault with a Weapon: How To Get Your Charges Dropped
Assault with a weapon is taken seriously in the Canadian court. It falls under section 267 of the Criminal Code of Canada and it states that anyone who is found in a possession of a weapon and committing an assault will be considered guilty. As compared to regular assault, assault with weapons is taken more seriously.
The first order of business should be to consult a lawyer and discuss your options. If you are seeking legal advice in Toronto then David Genis is your best bet for getting the charges dropped. As an expert in offering professional legal advice to individuals in Canada, David Genis serve as the ideal attorney for criminal charges.
What is Considered a Weapon?
In the eyes of the court, many objects can be considered a weapon. Because in reality anything can be used as a weapon if used a certain way. From a baseball bat, stick, tools, brass knuckles, gun, rock, hammer, etc. to many other things, a weapon is what could seriously injure a person. As the definition of a weapon is hardly definite, your lawyer could argue about anything used with the intention of a weapon.
Punishment for Assault with a Weapon
The Criminal court of Canada sentence the perpetrator found guilty of assault with a weapon with:
(a)carries, use of, or threatens with a weapon or imitation of can be sentenced up to a term not exceeding more than ten years.
If you are a first-time offender, you can ask the judge for forgiveness and gain a bit of leeway with the judge. However, if it’s not your first offense then you can expect a harsher punishment.
Defense to Assault with Weapon
Being charged or arrested for assault with a weapon does not necessarily mean that you are guilty. The most common type of defense to this charge is self-defense. In the criminal court, you can claim that you felt threatened for your safety and that is why you were forced to use self-defense.
You can argue that you have used reasonable force to protect yourself from the assault. With a good lawyer, you can put together a strong defense for you to make a powerful case in your defense. It is the duty of your lawyer to raise reasonable doubt in front of a judge as well as the jury to prove your innocence for the crime.
Assault with Weapon Charges Dropped
You can drop your charges in some cases or get it effectively reduced your charges for assault with a weapon to a common assault. If you are a first-time offender then you can negotiate your charges and plea for forgiveness in court. You can also show your willingness to enter a program that could also help you withdraw your charges completely.
You can opt for something called a peace bond, A peace bond is something where a judge will set some forth conditions that must be followed by you in every situation. If in a case where these conditions are not followed, you can risk being arrested and brought to jail.
There are several factors that decide the ruling of the court and whether your charges will be dropped or not will be based on it. However, if you have a good criminal lawyer then you will not have to worry about any of this because your lawyer would already be aware of how to mitigate the risk and get a result that works best in your favor.
