In the beginning of an assault case, Atlanta police officers often attempt to contact potential suspects by phone or in person in assault cases and speak with them. It is imperative in the early stage that if you are under suspicion of assault or battery by police officers that you speak with and retain an experienced attorney prior to speaking with Atlanta police officers or police officers from DeKalb, Gwinnett, Cobb or Fulton Counties.
The investigating officers (detectives) are trained to elicit responses from suspects to help them build their case so they can obtain the arrest warrants for assault against the suspect. Officers take statements from alleged victims and attempt to mold cases around the victim’s point of view. They may try to appear to be a friend and suggest they are trying to help a suspect out of a situation. A person cannot trust the police officers who are investigating them as a suspect in a crime like assault because it is the officer’s job to make the case against the suspect.
It is an Atlanta assault attorney’s job to protect someone under investigation for assault. Attorneys are bound by an oath to ethically and zealously represent and defend a person charged with assault.
Officers do not often conduct pre-arrest investigations because most cases involve just a couple of people in that “He said, she said” situation. The officer takes a brief statement and may not even ask questions. They have the alleged victim write a few sentences down on a sheet of paper that functions as their witness statement. They attempt to speak to the suspect and get a few sentences out from them without an attorney present to protect them. Then they quickly make an arrest and book the suspect.
Rarely do police officers, detectives, and other investigatory officers in Atlanta spend a great deal of time making assault cases and building the evidence necessary to prosecute the assault case suspects. They are quick to make arrests and move on to the next assault case. This is why an attorney relies on their staff, team of attorneys, support personnel, paralegals, and especially private investigators to help build their own investigation as to what happened. They gather witness statements and look deeper into the allegations of an assault for their clients. It is the extra steps and the extra level of investigations our firm takes that can result in the victory of a not guilty verdict or even the potential dismissal of the charges against someone before trial and most certainly at trial, if the facts are in the person’s favor.
In simple assault cases, most often there is something the alleged victim did that brought about the attempt to harm them. It is that act of the alleged victim and the language they used, the manner in which they said or did something that can be the difference between a conviction for the defendant and acquittal or dismissal of the charges.
Aggravated assault involves more than a simple assault because it requires intent to harm greatly, often by murder or attempted murder, attempted rape, robbery, or strangling someone. It can involve a gun or a knife; it can involve a person’s hands. A person does not have to be trained in martial arts or other forms of hand to hand combat to be charged with aggravated assault resulting from the use of their hands.
Aggravated assault is about placing someone in fear of imminent death, fear that the individual may rape or rob them that is the turning point in the aggravated assault case. Up to twenty years in prison is a serious punishment that demands the serious protection of an experienced assault lawyer. The threat of such serious punishment means that you should do everything you to protect yourself.