3 ms·
"Assault" seems correct here. Broadly speaking, charges for threatening someone with a knife and then screaming you'll beat them up will usually be some flavor
by GravitasFailure 4y ago
"Assault" seems correct here. Broadly speaking, charges for threatening someone with a knife and then screaming you'll beat them up will usually be some flavor of "assault," be it aggravated, attempted, or whatever the exact term the relevant statute uses. The "despite not attacking anyone" is a weird framing because stealing with a threat of injury tends to be treated as a pretty serious violent crime even without actually causing an injury.
Source: Way too much time as a rent-a-cop. Even dealt with a couple instances of armed shoplifting.
- gnicholas 4y agoYeah the question that lingered for me is: what makes this aggravated assault, if "with a deadly weapon" is already appended to the charge? I would think that the involvement of a deadly weapon could be an aggravating circumstance, but it seems like double-counting to up the charge in two places based on the weapon. But a quick google [1] shows that in NM, assault counts as aggravated if you're just holding a deadly weapon. So the reporting is just a bit sloppy — the charge itself doesn't reference "with a deadly weapon". It's just aggravated assault (because a deadly weapon was involved). 1: https://www.newmexicolegalgroup.com/criminal-defense/new-mexico-assault-and-aggravated-assault-felony/ https://www.newmexicolegalgroup.com/criminal-defense/new-mex...
- GravitasFailure 4y agoI love states that have these kinds of clear explanations of their laws.
- dmurray 4y agoThis explanation isn't coming from the state. It's written and published by a for-profit law firm to attract business, in the same way a tech company might have a blog with beginner tutorials on tech topics.