Assaulting an Officer - What is Demonstrable Bodily Harm?

Assaulting an officer is charged out as fourth degree assault. It starts as a gross misdemeanor offense, unless there is ‘demonstrable bodily harm,’ in which case it becomes a felony. For some reason, this term is undefined by statute, leaving it to the courts to figure it out.

We have previously tackled this issue in a blog post: here. This blog will take a look at a recent Minnesota Court of Appeals case that further expanded on the working definition for ‘demonstrable bodily harm,’ when holding a conviction for assaulting an officer was warranted under the facts. 

Evolving Definition of Demonstrable Bodily Harm for Assaulting an Officer

In State v. Farah, the Court of Appeals laid out the evolving definition of ‘demonstrable bodily harm.’ The current jury instruction that has been approved defines it as “capable of being perceived by a person other than the victim.” Later court opinions held that demonstrable was “something that was ‘obvious or apparent.'” And an “‘apparent’ injury is one that is ‘readily seen; visible.’” Even with that background, though, the level of harm does not require evidence that someone other than the victim actually saw the injury. Instead, the injury merely must be capable of being perceived by someone else, not that the harm was, in fact, viewed by someone else.

Examples of Demonstrable Bodily Harm

You can imagine how the State looks to trump up charges of assaulting an officer to get to a felony level when at all possible. Broken bones, cuts, blood, etc. – those are rather straightforward examples of ‘demonstrable bodily harm,’ as defined by the Courts. Looking to recent case law, swelling of a knuckle satisfied this level of harm to uphold a felony assaulting an officer conviction. And in Farah, demonstrable bodily harm was found with marks, bruising, and even based, somewhat, based on the sound of the fist made when punching an officer. As we previously discussed in our prior blog, though, a muscle strain or twist is not demonstrable bodily harm to justify an assault on an officer charge.

In some cases, this issue is a non-factor based on the facts. But, when you are facing a felony Fourth Degree Assault for assaulting an officer based on a level of injury that is suspect at bet, you are going to want a criminal defense team that understands this nuance and can bring the fight you need for your case. For example, after raising a legal argument on whether ‘demonstrable bodily harm’ existed in a case against a client, it led to a new offer that was simply too good for our client to turn down – a stay of adjudication, whereby the case would ultimately be dismissed. Having such a thorough understanding of the law and how to utilize it when developing your personalized legal strategy is critical to achieve success against such a serious charge.

Learn more by contacting the team at North Star Criminal Defense.