Assault Defense Case Results 

Assault Family Violence - Not Guilty

"Amber" had gotten into an argument with her husband about his infidelity. After the argument got heated, and a pushing happened back and forth, Amber called the police when she was fearful his aggressiveness would continue. They promptly arrived and almost immediately arrested Amber.

We were offered several plea bargains including "deferred adjudication" by the district attorney, but with Amber feeling she was in the right, no deal was accepted.

We fought the case at trial and showed that her cheating husband was actually the aggressor, and asserted the affirmative defense of "self defense." After a day and half of a jury trial, the jury acquitted Amber by finding her "Not Guilty", allowing our office to complete the case with a full expunction of her record.

Assault Family Violence - Felony (repeat) DISMISSED

"Tim's" girlfriend called the police after getting into an argument with him. She claimed he hit her and prevented her from leaving the vehicle and bit her finger.

The police arrived and found her upset and with red marks on her legs and arm. After some pressing, she said she "felt pain." (A needed statement in order for the State to charge someone with assault).

Because of his criminal history, Tim was charged with a 3rd Degree Felony and faced up to 10 years in prison.

Once our attorneys got the case, and heard his side, we knew that we had to fight the case. We obtained all the evidence and noticed some extremely strange and erratic behavior on the part of the complaining witness, his girlfriend.

The police report expressed that the complaining witness "appeared to be under the influence of narcotics, and repeatedly referred to the occult, shape shifting, and her skin turning gold and other colors."

After negotiations with the State, they finally agreed to a full Dismissal of the charges, allowing Tim to get his case expunged.

Aggravated Assault on a Public Servant (1st Degree) - DROPPED TO MISDEMEANOR, 2 YEARS PROBATION

Jim was up late partying and drinking at his apartment with his girlfriend and several friends. A neighbor called the police and several officers were dispatched to the scene.

Jim was extremely intoxicated when the officers arrived. After screaming at him on his second-floor balcony to “come down” Jim finally complied... although not in the way they expected. Jim jumped from the second story down towards the officers.

The officer claimed he jumped on him and the officer had a broken arm. The officer charged Jim with Aggravated Assault on a public servant. This is a first degree felony with a punishment range of up to life in prison.

During plea negotiations the district attorney wouldn’t budge and only offered a plea “deal” of 15 years. Despite facing the possibility of life in prison, Jim trusted the attorneys at Biederman & Burleson to have a trial.

After extensive preparation Mr. Biederman found a clip of the officer reporting to the officer that happened. (There was no video of the incident). “He hit the ground and I hit him.”

That one statement changed the course of the case and proved Jim didn’t assault the officer. The officer was caught with his pants down during his testimony. The clip was played over and over during Mr. Biederman’s closing argument.

The jury “hung” unable to convict or acquit. Rather than trying him again, the district attorney acquiesced and offered to lower the case to a misdemeanor and give him 2 years probation — an offer he couldn’t refuse.

Violation of a Protective Order - NOT GUILTY

"Joe" was issued a protective order during family law proceedings (divorce trial). These are quite common as the bar to issue a protective order is quite low.

Joe was arrested on a warrant because it was claimed he visited his soon to be ex-wife's place of employment. A violation of a protective order is a Class A misdemeanor, carrying with it a punishment of up to a year in jail and up to a $4000 fine.

Joe was offered a year deferred adjudication probation, which he turned down because of the deficiencies we noticed in the case. We knew the state hadn't seen them yet.

At trial, the State argued that our client visited his ex-wife’s place of employment in violation of a District Court’s protective order. However, we were able to establish that the address contained in the District Court’s protective order did not include the business that our client visited. As a result -- it was plain to see that he had not violated the protective order and the jury found Joe NOT GUILTY.

This case is a good example of how work done before trial can yield positive results at trial. Had we not compared the addresses we never would have known the deficiency and Joe would likely have had this on his record for the rest of his life.

Assault Family Violence - NOT GUILTY

"William" was accused of assaulting his wife. The police report stated that the couple had an argument after a night in which they were both drinking. At some point, William's wife called the police and accused William of assaulting her.

At the scene, the wife described the assault and told the police she wanted to press charges. After the attorney's reviewed the evidence, we noted that William's wife was very intoxicated when she accused her husband of assaulting her. In trial, we were additionally able to show that the injuries sustained by his wife were most likely self-inflicted.

At trial, William's wife refused to testify by invoking her 5th amendment right not to incriminate herself. We successfully argued to the jury that she most likely inflicted the wounds herself and made up the story due to her level of intoxication. The jury quickly returned a verdict of NOT GUILTY, and we were able to get William's records expunged.