Assault at a Party

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Texas
I was assualted at my best friend's birthday party; the last place I would have expected this to happen. The guy and his girlfriend were talking trash to me the whole night and were trying to antagonize me. When I stuck up for myself he put his hand around my neck and told me that I didn't want to mess with him. Later on I went up to his girlfriend to try to iron the situation out, but by this time she was so intoxicated that she just wanted to fight. She charged at my face shouting, "I'm not afraid to deck you right now!" I put my hands up to stop her from hitting me and keep her a good distance away. At this moment her boyfriend came up and punched me in the mouth, splitting my bottom lip in half and I went to the hospital that night and recieved stitches. He wasn't arrested at the scene because I am a minor and was afraid they may cite me for being in consumption of alcohol. I reported it the next morning and about a month later when I returned home from college made a positive identification off of a police lineup of criminals. I did not know this guy before that night and have every reason to believe that he was just waiting for his chance to come up and hit me. Everybody who was at the party was upset because I am a nineteen year old kid and he's a grown man, but frankly I don't think it would have mattered if I was a twelve year old kid as he had his heart set on what he was gonna do from the beginning. The threats continued the next morning via friends because he was already on probation for an aggravated assualt. Right now the DA office is waiting on the court to issue a warrant so they can go get him. I already requested that I get to say a few last things to him in the presence of his family so they are aware of what he has done. I just think alittle public humiliation in front of people who matter to him would go a long way. My question is how long of a sentence is he looking at knowing he was already on probation and what can I do to make sure he gets the longest sentence possible? The only defense he has is that he was trying to defend his girlfriend, but an eye witness said that they would testifiy against him. On top of that his girlfriend was the aggressor and I was simply reacting to someone putting my personal stafety in jeopardy. Me putting my hands out and making minimal physical contact just provided him a convenient excuse to lay his hands on me. With all these factors into play, are we looking at a small sentence of maybe 2-4 years, or does this warrant a sentence closer to double digits?

Beyond reporting the crime, which you did, and making your victim impact statement to the court, there's nothing else for you to do to influence his sentence. The sentence possibilities depend on the exact level of charge he gets convicted on. If the charge is a misdemeanor, he'll be looking at a MAX of 364 days. If a felony, it starts at a year and goes up. If you can tell us the exact statute he's being charged under, we can look up the potential penalties, but you need to be aware that realisically, there's a chance that it could be pled down to a lesser charge, that he could receive nothing more than anger management and probation, etc. Not many people are doing double digits for a punch in the mouth, even with injuries involved.

Thanks for the response. But what about if he was already on probation for an aggravated assault? Would that simply be turned to a conviction without further punnishment or are there more consequences for breaking probation?

Yes, if he was already on probation, he could be facing additional penalties for violating...up to revocation and having to serve out time for that crime, in addition to whatever penalty he gets for the crime against you. People on probation, especially for crimes involving violence, are incredibly stupid to commit additional crimes, and MOST especially additional crimes that involve violence. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

If he was charged w. just a misdeamanor,then his bigger worry is a probation volation. It all depends,he could get a year or 2 or maybe 3-5. Once they charge him.ask the da what he is looking at. I agree I don't he gonna do seven years for punching you in the face, if he charged w. a felony they he gotta worry about his previous conviction.

I will also state that you will NOT be allowed to lecture him and/or humiliate him in court.

The prosecuter I spoke to at the DA's office Friday said that as a part of the plea bargain they MAY be able to arrange that I can sit down and talk with him. I still am not sure what the legal conditions of me being able to speak to him are, and what would be allowed and what wouldn't. It's more for closure for me than it is for him. I figured he would be facing a stiffer penalty for violating his probation than the assualt against me. However, I do have a lot of interest in what will happen to him as a whole.

Like I said before he could be looking at a decent amount of time but don't be surpised if he gets a year or less in jail. He could be looking at a decent amount of time it depends on the da,judge and maybe how good of a lawyer he has. I understand you want closure but just be careful because talking to him might have him hold a grude against you.

Last time I talked to the DA he said that this will only be a misdemeaner case. What does it take for an assault to be ruled a felony?