Is It Considered Assault If I Was Defending Myself?

Ohio Self-Defense Law

In the state of Ohio, assault is defined as knowingly causing or attempting to cause physical harm to another or another’s. Likewise, it can also be described as recklessly causing severe bodily injury to another or another’s unborn. However, the act of self-defense is not reckless.

Can it Be Used in Court as a Defense?

Actually, yes. Self-defense is one of the most common defenses used in assault and battery cases. If for example, someone attacked you in a bar, you would likely fight back until the threat no longer became dangerous to you—the attacker gave up and walked away. The law would technically consider it assault so far as you struck the other person, but you had no intention to do so out of malice.

Unlawful Threat

A good criminal defense attorney will know how to demonstrate there was a threat of unlawful force against you, you feared for your own safety, you didn’t provoke your attacker, and there was no reasonable chance for you to escape or retreat. All of these elements must be proven to show the harm you did to the other person wasn’t intentional.

Likewise, if your actions were taken in defense of others or defense of property, these would also be reasonable defenses to an assault charge. Whether you were defending a loved one or an innocent person, you may have needed to strike the attacker to get him or her to back off and cease attacking the victim.

In all these types of cases, however, the court will be less than impressed if you had the opportunity to resolve the matter peacefully and “recklessly” decided not to. The best way to know if self-defense is an appropriate defense for you is to talk to an experienced Cleveland assault defense attorney as soon as possible. HMW Law has more than 75 years of combined legal experience to offer your case. Let us see what we can do for you.

Contact us at 216-369-1352 or fill out our online form to schedule a free case consultation today.