What makes an assault charge aggravated in Texas?
Under Tex. Penal Code §22.02, an assault becomes aggravated assault when you cause serious bodily injury to another person, or when you use or exhibit a deadly weapon during the assault. The baseline offense is a second degree felony. It rises to a first degree felony when a deadly weapon is used and the person seriously injured is a family or household member.
- Aggravated assault sits in Title 5, Chapter 22 of the Texas Penal Code, at §22.02.
- Two routes to the charge: causing serious bodily injury, or using or exhibiting a deadly weapon during an assault.
- The baseline offense is a felony of the second degree.
- It becomes a felony of the first degree when a deadly weapon is used and the injured person is a family or household member.
- A spouse counts. Violence inside a household is treated more seriously under this statute, not less.
Historically, Texas has been full of “gun slinging” towns that don’t back down to threats. Even though Texas has some of the best gun laws in the nation today, it doesn’t mean that people can get involved in physically violent altercations and get away with it. A lot has changed in the past 50 years.
Updated Assault Charges
In the 1950s and 1960s, two Texans could get in a fight and it wouldn’t necessarily lead to an arrest and criminal charges. Sometimes, they’d even shake hands afterwards. Nowadays, get into a fight or strike another person, and you could be facing a one-way trip to jail.
In Texas, most types of physical violence are covered under Title 5, Chapter 22 of the Texas Penal Code. Aside from homicide, most violent acts fall under the categories of assault and aggravated assault in Texas. For the purpose of this post, we’re going to discuss “aggravated assault” charges under Section 22.02 of the Texas Penal Code.
What is Aggravated Assault?
Under Sec. 22.02, you commit the offense of aggravated assault when you:
- Cause serious bodily injury to another person, including your husband or wife, or
- Use or show a deadly weapon while committing the assault.
Aggravated assault is a felony of the second degree; however, it is a felony of the first degree if the actor used a deadly weapon, such as a knife or firearm and caused serious bodily injury to the victim, who was a member of the actor’s family or household.
For example, if a man beat his wife and then stabbed her, he would be guilty of aggravated assault – a first-degree felony offense. Or, if a woman was fighting with her boyfriend and she shot him, she would be guilty of a first-degree felony. As you can imagine, there are many ways that a family or household member can cause serious bodily injury during an assault on another family or household member while using a “deadly weapon.”
Common questions
What is the difference between assault and aggravated assault in Texas?
Both sit in Title 5, Chapter 22 of the Texas Penal Code. Assault covers injuring, offensively touching, or threatening another person. Aggravated assault under Section 22.02 requires something more: either serious bodily injury, or the use or exhibition of a deadly weapon.
Is aggravated assault always a second degree felony?
No. Second degree is the baseline. It becomes a first degree felony when the person used a deadly weapon such as a knife or a firearm and caused serious bodily injury to a member of their family or household as defined in the Family Code.
Does the statute apply if the person injured is my spouse?
Yes. Section 22.02 applies to an assault on a husband or wife the same as on anyone else. Family or household status is also what can raise the offense to a first degree felony where a deadly weapon caused serious injury.
The law this article describes, at the source. Every figure above can be checked against it.
This article is general legal information about Texas law, not legal advice about your case. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Laws change, so confirm the current rule with a licensed Texas criminal defense attorney about your specific facts. Request a free case review.