Generally speaking, violent crimes such as simple assault involve either the intentional causing of bodily injury to another person or the attempt to cause bodily injury to another person. assault crimes An example of this would be one person punching another individual in the mouth or nose. Although this is the most frequently seen example of a simple assault crime there are less frequently discussed elements of simple assault that are not discussed as much as they should be. Specifically, criminal defendants can also be charged with simple assault for in some cases negligently inflicting injury onto another person, Additionally, a person also commits this crime if they take actions which would put a victim in fear of imminent serious bodily injury. The main point of this blog is to discuss examples of simple assault through the threat of imminent serious bodily injury. The Pennsylvania Superior Court discussed this situation in the case of Commonwealth vs Klieber which was decided in 2017
This case of Klieber deals specifically with violent crimes such as simple assault. This case has provided some clarity on the topic of what constitutes a violation of Pa criminal statute 2701(a)(3) which is the crime of simple assault. protection from abuse The statute states that a person is guilty of assault if he: attempts by physical menace to put another in fear of imminent serious bodily injury. The specific elements that must be proven under this section are first, that the defendant attempted to put the victim in fear of imminent serious bodily injury. Second, that the defendant took a substantial step toward that end, and finally, that the defendant used physical menace to do this and that it was the defendant’s conscious object or purpose to cause fear of serious bodily injury. The most easily given example of this is threatening a person with a gun or a knife. Please contact the violent crime lawyers at the Bellwoar Kelly, LLP if you have been charged with this crime.
