-I'm here with top Las Vegas criminal defense lawyer Michael
Becker.
And Mike, today I want to talk to you about the Nevada
crime of assault with a deadly weapon.
What is the legal definition of ADW?
-An assault with a deadly weapon is threatening to use
or actually using something that was either
designed to be a weapon, or something
that wasn't designed to be a weapon
but was used in such a manner that it
could be threatening or cause harm.
-And what are some examples?
-An example would be-- the most common example
would be pointing a gun at somebody, even if you don't
fire it, necessarily-- or if you did
fire it-- could be charged as an assault with a deadly weapon.
Another example might be, in Las Vegas, for example,
you get into a bar fight and you smash someone
over the head with a beer.
Even though the beer bottle might not
design to be a weapon, when used in that fashion,
a prosecutor could deem that it was
capable of being a deadly weapon.
-Or even like a pencil, let's say,
that you stab somebody with in the neck.
I mean, normally a pencil's a very innocent object,
but still could be considered a deadly weapon in that context.
-That's correct.
-Now if somebody gets convicted of assault with a deadly weapon
here in Nevada, what are they looking at?
-Assault with a deadly weapon in Nevada is a felony,
and it carries with it a term of one to six years in the Nevada
prison.
It is probation-able, which means if you're convicted,
it doesn't necessarily mean you're going to go to prison.
It means you could go to prison.
You could also receive a probationary sentence.
-And as a criminal defense lawyer,
you've had a lot of success over the years at representing
people charged with ADW.
What are some of the things that you found effective
in defending clients?
-It's very common, when we have a case involving assault
with a deadly weapon, that there was
some kind of mutual combat going on.
I'll use the beer bottle example.
It could be a situation where somebody
started a fight in a bar.
And someone threw a punch.
And someone had a beer in their hand
and they swung back, but happened
to have the beer bottle in their hand when they swung back.
They were utilizing self-defense.
And we've achieved results where we've gotten people acquitted,
even when they've inflicted substantial damage to someone
by use of, let's say, a beer bottle.
-So even if they did, let's say, use a deadly weapon
or use an object in a dangerous fashion, that
doesn't necessarily mean that they're guilty of the crime.
It might have been self-defense, like you say, mutual combat.
There might even be false accusations.
It might be the client didn't even-- never even
used a weapon.
But there was a vindictive accuser who made up a story.
-That's correct.
And often in Las Vegas, we see scenarios
where the accuser may be intoxicated.
The accuser may have been the aggressor.
The accuser may have been belligerent, causing trouble.
And then we speak to witnesses or we get surveillance video
from the casino, and we can see that it was actually
the accuser that kind of engaged in events
that brought about a response.
But when you look at it, you can very clearly
come to see that it wasn't the defendant's fault.
And so again, these cases require some investigation.
You've got to interview all the witnesses
to get the complete story.
But often, we're able to get very good results
in these types of cases.
-And often, what might appear to have happened to the police
initially, what we learn later that would actually happen
is very different, a much different story.
-That's correct.
And it's not uncommon that we see cases
where we have a client who has no criminal history whatsoever.
And then the person that's the alleged victim in the situation
has been in and out of prison, has a history of assaulting
people, of criminal violence.
And that can also be very persuasive to a prosecutor
to try to get a grip of what was really going on
and what really led up to the activities that ultimately
resulted in an arrest.
-So ultimately, having a good criminal defense
lawyer and a good defense investigation
can potentially get the result and the charges
getting reduced or dismissed.
-Absolutely.
I'm attorney Michael Becker with the Las Vegas Defense Group.
If you've been charged in Las Vegas, or anywhere
throughout the state of Nevada, with assault
with a deadly weapon, call us at 702-DEFENSE.
Let's hear your side of the story,
and let's talk about what we can do to help you get your charge
reduced or dismissed.