What happens in the minutes after a serious injury often decides the case. Leaving the scene or committing a second offense makes a legitimate self-defense claim far harder to argue to a jury.
The most damaging mistake in aggravated assault, manslaughter, and homicide cases happens after the fact. Once someone has seriously injured another person, they often assume they are already in trouble and make the situation worse by fleeing the scene, or by committing another offense to cover up what happened.
If you have a legitimate self-defense claim, fleeing the scene or picking up a new offense along the way, such as taking a vehicle to get away, makes that self-defense claim significantly harder to present to a jury. Barrera Defense represents people accused of aggravated assault in San Antonio, Floresville, Wilson County, Atascosa County, and Karnes County, and examines the stop, the injury allegation, the deadly weapon allegation, and every self-defense issue in the case.
Citation: Texas Penal Code §22.02
Degree and classification: Second-degree felony, elevated to first-degree for specific aggravators including a deadly weapon plus serious injury to a family or dating-relationship victim, offenses against public servants or witnesses, and drive-by shootings.
Statutory language: A person commits the offense if he commits assault under §22.01 and either causes serious bodily injury, or uses or exhibits a deadly weapon during the assault.