One of my friends recently got involved in some legal trouble and I was wondering what kind of trouble he could really be in. I'm going to post an article here with a couple substituted names/places for anonymity purposes.

"The suspects are 20 year old GUY and 18 year old BUDDY.

Accused of attacking 21 year old MAN

They allegedly beat MAN to the point of requiring facial reconstruction.

GUY and BUDDY were arraigned on felony second-degree assault charges.
Alcohol may or may not have played a role in the assault."


What kind of jail time are they looking at should they be found guilty?
Just how serious is a crime like this and how will it effect their future?

Originally Posted by UberDemon

What kind of jail time are they looking at should they be found guilty?
Just how serious is a crime like this and how will it effect their future?

I AM NOT A LAWYER

Depends on whether it's treated as a felony assault and battery. If it is, due to the nature of the injuries inflicted, 1-25 years in prison depending on judge's verdict and state in which this occurred. Criminal record as convicted felon.

If misdemeanor assault and battery, fines up to the thousands and possible jail time up to 6 months. Record as convicted of misdemeanor.

Given that it is probably his first offense, he may see some leniency, especially with a plea bargain.

For the record, it is incredibly easy to find out who your buddy is from a bit of googling. Change your post if you don't want that to happen.

Ouch.
I guess I didn't really contemplate the seriousness of the offense.

Beating someone to the point of requiring facial reconstruction doesn't sound serious to you?

This will definitely be felony assault, there's no way this will be charged as battery.

It depends on the state, but you can expect 5-10 year minimum sentence, 20-25 year maximum. It's common in cases where this kind of grievous bodily harm occurs to push for maximum sentence.


Sidenote: I have no sympathy for your friend and hope he gets maximum sentence.

You hardly have enough information to make such a judgement, pig. :P
Circumstances are important as well. According to the article up there he may have been drunk, for example.

If anything, that would make me have even less sympathy.

Clearing up something: assault and battery are two different crimes, not two separate levels of the same crime.

Assault is the clear threat of physical harm, battery is the actual physical harm. Battery is worse than assault, but you cannot have battery without assault, while you can have just assault.

To demonstrate this, think of a person attempting to punch another person and missing. The threat is clear, the capacity of the perpetrator to inflict harm is clear, but no actual battery occurs.

I would suggest that your figures for prison time are significantly higher than one should expect. First time offenders will almost never result in the maximum sentence, especially one so relatively young.

Furthermore, "requiring facial reconstruction surgery" is in actuality really vague as to what sort of injuries were inflicted. It could be referring to cosmetic surgeries, stitches, etc.

Given the very limited details, it is hard to declare any sentence conclusively.

The victim is being hospitalized for a broken jaw and an orbital fracture.

If I may be allowed to contribute to this discussion (legal stuff always piques my interest; being a pre-law student does come in handy when you're talking to dudes online), I believe that boredpayne is spot-on in terms of how he delineates the concept of "assault" from the concept of "battery".

The legal system and subsequently legal juris prudence might be different here in the Philippines, but as far I've learned, there are universal legal concepts that retain a measure/level of universal nuancing. Examples of these concepts include the aforementioned "assault" and "battery".

Using boredpayne's definitions for both concepts (as well as a quick look into the US penal system in general), it appears like your friend will most likely be facing a felony charge on the grounds of either battery or aggravated assault, regardless of the involvement of alcohol.

As for the punitive measures that might be implemented, this depends on whether your friends actions will be considered a crime or a tort, after which the appropriate punishments will be dealt out (this depends on juris prudence of the state where the crime was committed).

Basically, your friend is looking at either a few years in prison (I really can't put a definitive length of time; length of sentences are different here where I live) or a considerable fine as well as a possible few months of criminal liability.