Physical violence in the event of a verbal conflict or road rage is one of the most common causes of bodily harm in assaults and of charges being brought for such acts. Depending on the degree of escalation of the conflict, bodily harm of varying degrees—minor, moderate, or severe—may be inflicted.
There are also cases where the victim, in order to defend themselves from another aggressive person, causes them some harm, as a result of which they are charged with causing bodily harm during an assault.
As with any crime provided for in the Criminal Code, the line of defense is built for each specific case, according to the specific circumstances of the case, but there are general provisions, and it is these that we will discuss in today’s article, as well as recounting several interesting cases from our work as criminal lawyers at the Sylvia Petkova Sole Proprietorship Law Firm.
Cases from the law firm’s work in defending defendants accused of causing bodily harm during a fight
The first case concerns charges for causing moderate bodily harm during assault.
Nikolay* is driving home from work in the evening. His neighborhood is small with narrow streets, lined with parked cars on both sides. For this reason, he drives very slowly. As he turns into the parking lot of his apartment building, a man with a baby carriage suddenly jumps out from behind the parked cars, forcing Nikolay to slam on the brakes and stop. The man starts arguing with Nikolay and insulting him, to which Nikolay responds with insults of his own. The man leaves the stroller in the middle of the road, opens the door of Nikolay’s car, lunges at him, and begins to punch him in the face and chest, continuing to insult and swear at him.
Nikolay manages to get out of the car, pushing away the man, who continues to strike him. In an attempt to stop the attack, Nikolay also swings at the man’s face and lands a single blow, which breaks a bone in his attacker’s jaw. Nikolay is charged with causing moderate bodily harm during an assault.
The second case concerns charges for causing serious bodily harm during assault.
Valentin is a young man who lives with his family in a normally quiet neighborhood. An old acquaintance of the police, however, he harasses the neighborhood every night, shouting all kinds of obscene words and curses after consuming massive amounts of alcohol.
The incident takes place on yet another night when the drunk man is shouting and swearing, walking around the neighborhood half-naked. Valentin and his wife Kamelia go out onto the balcony and watch the drunk man lying half-naked on the sidewalk, getting up, staggering around, falling down again, and so on for several minutes. From other balconies, you can hear the shouts of other angry neighbors directed at the drunk man.
Valentin decides to go down and help the drunk man get home. At the entrance, he finds two other people trying to calm the drunk man down and convince him to go home. When the three men try to grab him, he attempts to escape but trips over a manhole cover and falls face down, sustaining serious abrasions. The drunk man starts screaming for help, shouting, “They’re killing me!” Someone from the neighbouring shop calls the police and an ambulance, and Valentin and the three men give up trying to help, as the drunk man is uncontrollable and hysterical, and they step aside to wait for the authorities to arrive.
Shortly thereafter, a police team and an ambulance arrive at the scene. The medics examine the intoxicated individual, clean and bandage his wounds without finding any serious injuries, and one of the police officers takes him home.
Valentin and the others return home, forgetting about the incident. Ten days later, the police raid Valentin’s home. A search and seizure is carried out, and he is detained. It turns out that the drunk man’s parents had reported to the prosecutor’s office that after the incident he had lost sight in one eye, and a neighbor of Valentin’s, with whom he was on bad terms, had stated that he had seen him strike the drunk man multiple times in the face.
Valentin was charged with causing grievous bodily harm during an assault and spent seven months under house arrest.
* In order to preserve attorney-client privilege, names have been changed.
TYPES PHYSICAL INJURY DURING ASSault
The Criminal Code regulates three types of bodily injury – severe, moderate, and minor.
Serious bodily injury is present when the victim suffers any of the following consequences:
1. prolonged disturbance of consciousness (e.g., amnesia). Such disorders are most often caused by serious brain trauma;
2. permanent blindness in one or both eyes;
3. permanent deafness;
4. loss of speech;
5. infertility (sterility);
6. disfigurement causing permanent impairment of speech or sensory function. “Permanent” means that the consequences are irreversible from a medical point of view;
7. loss of one kidney, spleen, or lobe of the lung;
8. loss or mutilation of a leg or arm;
9. permanent general health disorder, life-threatening (e.g., epilepsy). This type of disorder is also caused by brain trauma.
For causing serious bodily harm during assault, the law provides for punishment deprivation of liberty for three to ten years.
Moderate bodily injury is caused when one or more of the following impairments are present:
1. permanent impairment of vision or hearing;
2. permanent impairment of speech, movement of the limbs, torso, or neck (i.e., fracture of an arm, leg, pelvis, or neck), or function of the reproductive organs without causing sterility.
Here “permanent” does not mean irreversible. The circumstance that through appropriate medical intervention this weight loss has been eliminated, and the patient has recovered completely, does not change the nature of the bodily damage;
3. fracture of the jaw or knocking out of teeth, without which chewing or speaking is difficult;
4. disfigurement of the face or of other parts of the body;
5. permanent disorder of health, not dangerous to life (e.g. fracture of the nose, as a result of which breathing is difficult) or disorder of health, temporary life-threatening (e.g., brain concussion with loss of consciousness);
6. injuries that penetrate the cranial, thoracic and abdominal cavities. These injuries are caused by attacks with sharp objects.
For causing moderate bodily harm in the course of a6> assault the law provides for punishment deprivation of liberty up to six years.
Minor physical damage is present in all cases that do not fall under the above-listed consequences. The penalties are deprivation of liberty for up to two years or probation, when the caused minor bodily harm in assault has led to disruption of health (e.g. bruises and abrasions). When caused minor bodily harm without disorder of health (e.g. hit is a slap), the punishment is up to six months deprivation of liberty or probation, or a fine of one hundred to three hundred leva.
In cases where the victim immediately retaliated with a blow that also constituted minor bodily harm, both participants in the fight may be exempt from criminal liability.
IMPORTANT!!! In cases of minor bodily injury caused by assault, the victim can protect their rights by filing a complaint with the court. This differs from cases of moderate and severe bodily injury, which are prosecuted by filing a report with the prosecutor’s office.
PROTECTION IN THE EVENT OF INJURY TO THE BODY IN THE EVENT OF BEATING BEATING
As we noted above, the line of defense is constructed for each specific case, according to the specific circumstances of it.
There are several most common reasons for obtaining an acquittal or a lower sentence as a result of reclassification of the injury.
Firstly, it may not be possible to prove who committed the act. Thus, in the case of Valentin described above, the testimony of the witness, with whom he is on bad terms, cannot justify his conviction when no other evidence indicates that he assaulted the drunk man.
Secondly, it is possible, as in Nikolay’s case, that the bodily harm was inflicted in order to defend against an initial attack. In this case, the law stipulates that there is “unavoidable defense” (incorrectly referred to as “unavoidable self-defense” or simply “self-defense”) and the person who caused bodily harm during the assault bears no criminal responsibility whatsoever.
Thirdly, it is possible that the injury has been incorrectly classified from a medical point of view. The most serious problems with classification arise in cases of broken noses, where it must be determined whether breathing difficulties have been caused. The situation is similar in cases of concussion, where it must be determined whether there has been a loss of consciousness. However, determining these circumstances is extremely important, as the first case involves moderate bodily injury, while the second involves minor bodily injury.
Next, there may be circumstances that lead to the conclusion that the victim provoked the perpetrator with his or her unlawful conduct. In this case, the so-called “physiological affect” may be examined, and its establishment may serve as grounds for imposing a lower penalty.
Such a lighter punishment may also be imposed when, after causing bodily harm in a fight, the perpetrator called an ambulance or took the victim to hospital himself.
In conclusion
In fact, the possible hypotheses for achieving an acquittal on charges of causing bodily harm during an assault or for imposing a lighter punishment are as numerous as the cases of such acts themselves.
In such cases, hiring a qualified and experienced criminal lawyer can be of utmost importance for the proper conduct of the criminal proceedings.
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You can find more topics related to the rights and obligations of defendants and accused persons for crimes committed in the section “Criminal Law”.
Silvia Petkova Sole Proprietorship Law Firm provides qualified legal assistance from experienced criminal lawyers to both defendants accused of causing bodily harm through assault and victims of such crimes.
Contact:
Working hours: Monday to Friday from 10:00 to 18:00.
Address: Sofia, 2 Tri Ushi St., floor 3
tel. 0885 47 77 57
email: office@petkovalegal.com
Consultations by telephone and on site at the law office are provided only by previously scheduled appointment.