The penalties associated with domestic violence charges differ from other assault cases. For instance, assault is not an enhanceable offense, meaning that the penalty range does not change if it is someone’s first or 10th conviction. In other words, the penalty range depends on the degree of assault.
On the other hand, domestic violence is an enhanceable offense, meaning the penalty range can increase with an additional conviction. For someone’s first domestic assault conviction, the penalty range would be lower than if it was his or her third or fourth offense. It is best to work with an attorney from Berry Law who possesses a firm understanding of the differences between assault and domestic violence penalties in Omaha.
Assault Penalties
The penalties differ between domestic violence and assault charges. In an assault case, the penalties are selected based on the degree of severity. For example, third-degree assault is a Class I misdemeanor. In Omaha, a Class I misdemeanor carries the possible penalty of up to one year in jail, up to $1,000 fine, or both.
If the assault is mutually entered, meaning it is not just one person hitting the other, but both people are fighting each other, that would constitute a lesser penalty. In that case, the third-degree assault would be a Class II misdemeanor, which carries the possible penalty of six months in jail, a $500 fine, or both.
Second-degree assault is a Class IIA felony, which can ultimately lead to 20 years imprisonment. The most severe is first-degree assault, which is a Class II felony. A Class II felony carries the possible penalty of 1 to 50 years imprisonment.
Domestic Violence Penalties
There are also three different levels of penalties for domestic violence charges. Third-degree domestic violence is the lowest level and is charged as a Class I misdemeanor. This carries up to one year in jail, $1,000 fine, or both.
If someone has already been convicted of domestic assault and faces penalties for a subsequent offense, this can be automatically increased to a Class IIIA felony, and he or she may face up to three years’ imprisonment, up to 18 months of post-release supervision, and up to a $10,000 fine.
Second-degree domestic violence is a Class IIIA felony. However, second-degree domestic violence as a subsequent offense is a Class IIA felony, which could lead to a20 year prison sentence.
Domestic violence in the first degree, which is the most severe, is automatically a IIA felony, which carries a possible penalty of 20 years imprisonment. Charges can be increased to a Class II felony for a subsequent offense, and that is punishable by up to 50 years imprisonment.
There is a large range between assault and domestic violence penalties in Omaha. Domestic violence can be enhanced, which can make the consequences much worse – especially if it is not the person’s first offense.
Long-Term Consequences
A significant long-term difference between domestic violence and assault penalties in Omaha is the effect on a person’s gun rights. Being convicted of assault does not necessarily suspend a person’s gun rights, but being convicted of domestic violence will. This is due to the Lautenberg Amendment.
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It also makes a difference if the crime is domestic in nature. It does not necessarily matter if the court documents say a person is convicted of assault or domestic violence. What matters are the underlying facts and the nature of the act. Even if the court originally charges someone with domestic violence but he or she takes a plea agreement for just assault, he or she can still be at risk of losing gun rights because the underlying facts of the case are domestic in nature.
If someone, for example, hits a stranger at a bar and is convicted of third-degree assault, his or her gun rights would not be affected. However, if someone hits his or her partner and is convicted of a third-degree domestic assault, his or her gun rights would be revoked.
