Over the years, our firm has represented a number of husbands, wives, significant others, employers, employees, teenagers, and others who have been charged with various levels of assault, from Assault with a Deadly Weapon to Assault on a Female to Sexual Assault. In North Carolina, such charges range from Class A1 misdemeanors to high level felonies and carry significant criminal penalties, along with ancillary civil penalties.
These charges are easy to bring because North Carolina has a system that allows an accuser to initiate misdemeanor charges against anyone by simply complaining to a magistrate, who is usually an employee of the local sheriff’s office. In other words, the district attorney’s office does not screen misdemeanor assault cases before an arrest warrant is issued.
We have had success in winning acquittals in these cases by thoroughly investigating the accuser, strenuously cross-examining the witnesses at trial, and in some cases presenting the testimony of self-defense experts. We have also successfully negotiated with prosecutors who have agreed to dismiss or substantially reduce assault charges in many cases.
