Understanding Vehicular Aggravated Assault: ARS 13 1204
Facing vehicular aggravated assault charges can be overwhelming. The legal system can feel complex and intimidating. Lawyer Listed provides clear information about the charge and the possible penalties, helping you understand each step of the process.
This guide gives you a complete overview of Arizona’s vehicular aggravated assault laws and explains ARS 13-1204 penalties in detail. It also answers common questions about these charges.
Remember, this information is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for legal advice from an experienced Arizona criminal defense attorney. If you are charged with vehicular aggravated assault, let Lawyer Listed match you with your ideal criminal defense lawyer as soon as possible.
What Is Vehicular Aggravated Assault?
Vehicular aggravated assault involves the use of a vehicle to intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly cause injury to another person. This charge also includes intentionally placing another person in reasonable apprehension of imminent physical injury using a vehicle. Intentional injury or apprehension of injury with a car includes running someone down in the street or driving a car into an occupied building with the purpose of causing physical harm or apprehension of physical harm.
More commonly, vehicular aggravated assault is charged as a reckless 13 1204 ARS crime. This type of charge doesn’t require that you intend to hurt anyone. Instead, prosecutors focus on your reckless actions that caused the injury, like injuring someone while driving under the influence.
Primary Ways You Can Face Vehicular Assault Charges:
- Any Physical Injury: Prosecutors must prove that you intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly caused any physical injury to another person while using your vehicle as a dangerous instrument. This element means even small injuries can lead to a conviction. The key point is that a physical injury happened and your vehicle caused it.
- Serious Physical Injury: This scenario requires proving you caused serious physical harm. Serious physical harm includes injuries that create a reasonable risk of death, result in serious permanent disfigurement, or cause significant, long-term loss of bodily function. This is a much more serious offense than causing “any physical injury” and comes with harsher penalties.
- Fear of Injury: This charge means prosecutors must prove you intentionally made someone fear immediate physical harm by using your vehicle as a dangerous instrument. In other words, you made a believable threat of immediate harm with your vehicle. The key factor is that the victim reasonably believed they were about to be harmed.
Your Vehicle as a "Dangerous Instrument"
Under ARS 13-1204, your vehicle becomes a “dangerous instrument” when you use it in a way that could cause death or serious physical injury. This is a critical part of the charge. Prosecutors must show that the way you used your vehicle created a serious risk of harm. Several factors can influence this determination:
- Intentional collision: Using your car to hit or run over another person qualifies it as a dangerous instrument in the eyes of the law. This is because you’re essentially using the car as a weapon.
- Driving under the influence (DUI): Driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs significantly increases the chances of your vehicle being classified as a dangerous instrument. This is because drunk driving impairs your ability to handle the car, which endangers all those who share the road with you.
- Reckless driving: Actions like excessive speeding, aggressive driving, or ignoring traffic signals increase the likelihood of your vehicle being considered a dangerous instrument.
- Dangerous road conditions: Driving recklessly in bad weather or on difficult roads increases the risk and makes it more likely that your vehicle will be considered a dangerous instrument.
In each of these situations, prosecutors will argue that the way you used your vehicle transformed it from a simple mode of transportation into a dangerous instrument. Essentially, the prosecution will argue that your actions turned your car into a reckless missile or an intentional battering ram on the road.
Key Concepts of Vehicular Aggravated Assault
- Intentionally / With intent to: Acting with the objective of causing a specific result or engaging in particular conduct. In plain terms, you meant to do it.
- Knowingly: You are aware of your actions or the circumstances that make up the offense. Knowingly does not require that you know your conduct is illegal; you just need to be conscious of what you are doing or the situation you are in.
- Recklessly: You are aware of and deliberately choose to ignore a significant and unjustifiable risk that could lead to harmful consequences. This conscious disregard must represent a substantial departure from how a reasonable person would behave under the same circumstances.
- Dangerous instrument: Anything that, under the circumstances in which it is used, attempted to be used, or threatened to be used, is readily capable of causing death or serious physical injury.
- Dangerous offense: An offense involving the discharge, use, or threatening exhibition of a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument or the intentional or knowing infliction of serious physical injury on another person.
- Dangerous crime against children (DCAC): Category of offenses against victims under fifteen that carries enhanced penalties due to victim vulnerability and offense severity.
Elements of Aggravated Assault
According to ARS 13-1204, aggravated assault occurs when a simple assault includes one or more aggravating factors.
Assault
For an assault conviction, the prosecution must prove you committed one of the following acts:
- Intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly caused physical injury to another person.
- Intentionally placed another person in reasonable apprehension of imminent physical injury.
Vehicular Aggravated Assault
For a vehicular aggravated assault conviction, the prosecution must prove:
- You committed an assault, and
- The assault was aggravated by at least one of the following factors involving a vehicle:
- Causing serious physical injury to another person.
- Using a vehicle as a dangerous instrument during the assault.
Arizona Statute of Limitations for ARS Vehicular Aggravated Assault
The statute of limitations is the deadline for filing criminal charges after an alleged offense. For vehicular aggravated assault, prosecutors generally have up to seven years from the date of the alleged offense to bring charges.
Sentencing for Vehicular Aggravated Assault
The penalty for vehicular aggravated assault is substantial and can have long‑lasting effects. Sentences vary based on your criminal history and the facts of the case. Understanding these consequences helps you make informed decisions about your defense.
| Class of Felony | Description | Sentence (prison) | Probation (max) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Class 2 DCAC |
Victim under 15 years old: Use of a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument Causing serious physical injury |
10 – 24 years | Not Available |
| Class 3 Dangerous |
Use of a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument Causing serious physical injury |
5 – 15 years | Not Available |
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Don’t worry if this seems overwhelming; Lawyer Listed has already done the work for you and is ready to match you with an elite lawyer tailored to your needs and your case.
Key Takeaways:
- Definition: Vehicular aggravated assault in Arizona, under ARS 13-1204, involves intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly injuring another person or placing them in reasonable apprehension of imminent physical injury using a motor vehicle. Intentional injury can include running someone down on the street. Reckless injury often involves situations like causing a collision while driving under the influence.
- Three Paths to Charges:
- Any Physical Injury: Causing any physical injury to another person with your vehicle, even if the injuries are minor. The prosecution only needs to prove that some physical injury occurred.
- Serious Physical Injury: Causing serious harm that risks death, results in permanent disfigurement, or causes significant long-term impairment of bodily function. This carries more severe penalties.
- Fear of Injury: Intentionally causing someone to fear immediate harm with your vehicle. The victim must reasonably believe they’re about to be harmed.
- Vehicle as a “Dangerous Instrument”: A vehicle is considered a dangerous instrument when used in a manner capable of causing death or serious injury. Factors influencing this classification include intentional collisions, DUI, reckless driving, and driving in dangerous conditions. The prosecution must prove that the way you used your vehicle created a serious risk of harm.
- Sentencing: Vehicular aggravated assault carries different penalties depending on the circumstances of the crime.
- Vehicular aggravated assault: Classified as a Class 3 dangerous felony with a prison sentence ranging from 5 to 15 years without the possibility of probation.
- Vehicular aggravated assault (victim under 15): Classified as a Class 2 dangerous felony with a prison sentence ranging from 10 to 24 years without the possibility of probation.
- Statute of limitations: The statute of limitations for vehicular aggravated assault is seven years from the date of the offense.
Next Steps:
Vehicular aggravated assault is a serious criminal allegation with consequences that can affect the rest of your life. Outcomes depend on many factors. Lawyer Listed meets you where you are and helps you understand the law and your rights.
If you’re facing vehicular aggravated assault Arizona charges, engaging a skilled criminal defense attorney is important to protect your rights and manage the process. Don’t try navigating the legal system alone; match with your ideal lawyer at LawyerListed.com and get an experienced criminal defense lawyer on your side right away.