Depending on the severity of her injuries, you could be looking at a Third Degree Assault Charge. This is a felony and carries a possible punishment of 5 years in prison. There isn't a lot you can do to avoid being charged; that's out of your hands. The county attorney's office will review the police reports and any witness statements and make a determination whether there is probable cause to charge you with a crime. If so, the county attorney will sign the charging document called a Complaint and file it with the court. You would then most likely receive a copy of the Compliant in the mail along with a Summons advising you of your court date. The best thing you can do at this point is not talk to anyone - even the police. The police may try to contact you to "get your side of the story." You are under no obligation to talk to the police and it's probably in your best interest not to. If you are charged, that doesn't mean you're guilty of the crime. The state has to meet a much higher burden to convict someone of a criminal offense versus simply charging someone with a crime. Depending on the circumstances of the incident, you may be entitled to self-defense; however, a criminal defendant is not automatically entitled to rely on self-defense. The burden would fall on your shoulders to prove to the judge that you should be entitled to argue self-defense to a jury. There are limitations on when a criminal defendant is allowed to rely on self-defense and I would need to know more about the circumstances of the incident before I could give you a better idea of whether self-defense would be an option in your case.
Answered on Mar 06th, 2013 at 2:42 AM