Adding a dangerous weapon to the commission of any crime increases the likelihood of injury and death to the people involved in the crime, whether those be the perpetrators or the victims of the crime. Assault and battery with a dangerous weapon makes a simple assault and battery into a serious crime in Oklahoma.
In order to understand assault and battery with a dangerous weapon in Oklahoma, you need to first understand how Oklahoma treats a simple assault and battery.
Assault and Battery in General
In Oklahoma, assault and battery are really two distinct crimes. You can be convicted of one or the other, or both, depending on the circumstances.
An assault is defined as an intentional attempt or intentional threat of force or violence made against another person. Okla. Stat. tit. 21 § 641
A battery is defined as the intentional and unlawful use of force or violence against another. Okla. Stat. tit. 21 § 642
So assault is the threat of the force to be used, and battery is the force when it is used. If you walk up behind someone and shove a person without their seeing you beforehand, you will have committed a battery, but not an assault. If you come up behind someone threatening to push that person and that person sees or hears the threat, you will have committed an assault. If you come up behind that same person threatening to push them and then push that person, you will have committed an assault and battery.
The penalty for simple assault is a jail term of up to 30 days, or a fine of up to $500, or both. Okla. Stat. tit. 21 § 644
The penalty for a simple assault and battery is a jail term of up to 90 days, a fine up to $1,000, or both.
Assault and Battery With a Dangerous Weapon
In Oklahoma, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon is defined as the committing of an unjustifiable assault, battery, or an assault and battery upon another person with any sharp or dangerous weapon, including any type of firearm, air gun or conductive energy weapon such as a taser, or by any other means, with the intent to injure that person, but not to kill that person, or to commit any felony. Okla. Stat. tit. 21 § 645.
A dangerous weapon is a weapon that is likely to cause death or great bodily injury. By definition, any deadly weapon is a dangerous weapon. Deadly weapons include pistols, revolvers, daggers, bowie knives, switch-blade knives, and the like. Even an object that would not normally considered to be dangerous can be a dangerous weapon for purposes of this statute if used in a way that was likely to cause death or great bodily injury. Thus, a leather strap, or a stick, or a clock could all qualify as dangerous under the right circumstances.
Using a dangerous weapon does not in and of itself prove the requisite intent. The defendant must have had the specific intent to inflict physical harm to the victim, and that must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt in order to secure a conviction. If the act was really an accident, there can be no conviction, because even though a dangerous weapon might have been used, there was no intent to harm the other person.
This is best exemplified by an accidental shooting when cleaning a gun. In this case there is a battery with a dangerous weapon, but no intent to harm.
Assault and battery with a dangerous weapon is a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison or up to a year in the county jail. Okla. stat. tit. 21 § 645
If you are facing charges for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, you need the help of an experienced assault and battery lawyer in Oklahoma. This is not a matter to try to handle on your own. Get expert help when you need it most.
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