Aggravated Assault Upon a Dating Partner Defense Attorney in Baton Rouge, Louisiana

The criminal charge of Aggravated Assault Upon a Dating Partner in Louisiana is a new statute just created and implemented in 2017.  It provides for more serious penalties for aggravated assault when the alleged crime involves a dating relationship between the defendant and victim.   The law does not require that the defendant and victim live or lived together.  The prosecutor must establish that the defendant and victim were “dating partners.”  The statute also provides for harsh penalties when a child thirteen years of age or younger is present at the scene during the incident.

Contact us at 225-964-6720 if you need an Aggravated Assault Upon a Dating Partner Defense Attorney in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

See the statute below:

§34.9.1. Aggravated assault upon a dating partner

            A. Aggravated assault upon a dating partner is an assault with a dangerous weapon committed by one dating partner upon another dating partner.

            B. For purposes of this Section, "dating partner" means any person who is involved or has been involved in a sexual or intimate relationship with the offender characterized by the expectation of affectionate involvement independent of financial considerations, regardless of whether the person presently lives or formerly lived in the same residence with the offender. "Dating partner" shall not include a casual relationship or ordinary association between persons in a business or social context.

            C. Whoever commits the crime of aggravated assault upon a dating partner shall be imprisoned at hard labor for not less than one year nor more than five years and fined not more than five thousand dollars.

            D. This Subsection shall be cited as the "Aggravated Assault Upon a Dating Partner Child Endangerment Law". When the state proves, in addition to the elements of the crime as set forth in Subsection A of this Section, that a minor child thirteen years of age or younger was present at the residence or any other scene at the time of the commission of the offense, the mandatory minimum sentence imposed by the court shall be two years imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.

            Acts 2017, No. 84, §1.