What is the difference between aggravated and simple assault in New Jersey

The main differences between aggravated and simple assault in New Jersey are the severity of the injury caused by the offense and the degree of charges. Simple assault is a more minor crime charged as a disorderly person’s offense. Aggravated assault is serious and charged as an indictable offense.

What Are Some Examples of Aggravated Assault?

Aggravated assault can involve circumstances such as:

• Shooting another person
• Assaulting someone from a protected class, such as a person with a physical disability
• Striking or threatening to hit a person with a dangerous weapon or object
• Threatening violence with concealed identity
• Threatening to shoot someone while pointing a gun at them
• Attacking and leaving a person with broken bones or severe lacerations

What Are Some Examples of Simple Assault?

Some examples of simple assault can include:

• Forcefully grabbing a person’s arm or wrist and twisting it to inflict pain
• Throwing an object at someone, causing scratches, cuts, or bruises
• Threatening to slap a person and approaching them with an angry appearance and ready to punch
• Shoving someone down or against their will
• Pulling a person by the hair

What Are the Differences Between Bodily Injury and Serious Bodily Injury?

Assault can involve bodily injury or serious bodily injury. The degree of injury determines whether to charge someone with simple assault or aggravated assault.

Bodily injury can include:

• Illness
• Physical pain
• Impairment of physical condition

Serious bodily injury is an injury such as:

• Serious injuries
• Permanent disfigurement of a body part
• Loss of function or impairment of an organ
• The risk of death

Is Aggravated Assault Considered a Felony?

Aggravated assault is an indictable crime in New Jersey, often called a felony in other states. The charge can be of the second, third, or fourth degree, depending on the circumstances of the crime.

What Are the Penalties for Aggravated Assault?

Sentencing for aggravated assault depends on whether the crime is a second, third, or fourth-degree indictable offense:

• Fourth-degree indictable offense – Up to 18 months in prison and a $10,000 fine
• Third-degree indictable offense – 3 to 5 years in prison and up to a $15,000 fine
• Second-degree indictable offense – 5 to 10 years in prison and up to a $150,000 fine

Criminal penalties can also include:

• Court fees and costs
• Paying restitution to the victim
• Community service
• Probation
• Anger management, drug abuse, or alcohol abuse counseling

Contact a New Jersey Criminal Defense Lawyer

The Law Office of Jason A. Volet will fight by your side to get the charges against you dropped or reduced. Our team will dedicate significant time and effort to try to reach the best possible result in your case.

If you face a simple or aggravated assault charge, contact our law firm today for a confidential consultation to learn how we can help.

Visit Our Criminal Defense Law Offices

About the Author

Jason A. Volet
Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a criminal trial attorney, Jason A. Volet focuses his practice exclusively on criminal and municipal defense in New Jersey and New York. He earned his B.A. in political science from Rutgers College in 1995 and his J.D. from the Hofstra University School of Law in 1998. Mr. Volet began his career in the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, where he gained extensive experience prosecuting both juvenile and adult offenders. Now, as a criminal defense attorney, he uses that experience to fight for the rights of individuals who have been charged with a crime.