6 Defenses to Aggravated Assault Charges in South Carolina

You’re facing Assault and Battery of a High and Aggravated Nature (ABHAN) charges in South Carolina. Up to 20 years in prison. A permanent felony record.

Here’s what you need to know: ABHAN charges are serious, but they’re defensible. With the right strategy and an experienced lawyer, you can fight these charges and win.

What ABHAN Actually Means in South Carolina

South Carolina law defines Assault and Battery of a High and Aggravated Nature as unlawfully injuring another person where either:

1. Great bodily injury results, OR
2. The act was accomplished by means likely to produce death or great bodily injury

Great bodily injury means serious harm that creates a substantial risk of death, permanent disfigurement, or permanent loss of function of a body part.

Means likely to produce death or great bodily injury covers situations where you used a weapon or method that could have killed or seriously injured someone—even if the actual injuries ended up being minor.

For example:

If you fired a gun into an occupied house but only grazed someone’s arm, you can still be charged with ABHAN because firing a gun into a house is likely to cause death or serious injury.

Defense Strategies That Actually Work

Here are the proven defenses that can get ABHAN charges reduced or dismissed in South Carolina courts.

1. Prove You Acted in Self-Defense

Self-defense is the most common and most successful defense to ABHAN charges.

What your lawyer needs to prove:

• The other person attacked you first or was about to attack you.
• You had a reasonable fear of death or serious injury.
• You only used as much force as necessary.
• You stopped once the threat was over.

Special rule for home invasions: South Carolina law presumes you had a reasonable fear of death or serious injury if someone broke into your home or was attempting to break in. This gives you extra protection when defending yourself in your own house.

2. Challenge the Severity of the Injuries

ABHAN requires either great bodily injury or means likely to cause death or great bodily injury. If the prosecution can’t prove that element, they can’t convict you of ABHAN.

3. Argue You Lacked the Required Intent

ABHAN requires that you “unlawfully” injured someone. That means you acted intentionally and without legal justification. If the injury was accidental, you didn’t have the required intent for ABHAN.

Examples where lack of intent works:

• You were in a crowded area and accidentally knocked someone down the stairs while trying to get through a crowd.
• You were defending yourself, but accidentally hit a bystander.
• You were horsing around with friends and someone got hurt—but there was no intent to cause serious harm.

4. Challenge the Prosecution’s Evidence

The state has to prove every element of ABHAN beyond a reasonable doubt. Your lawyer’s job is to create doubt.

• Question witness credibility
  • Are the witnesses consistent in their stories?
  • Do they have a reason to lie?
  • Have they changed their story over time?
• Point out missing evidence
  • If there’s no medical evidence of great bodily harm, no photos of injuries, and no independent witnesses, that creates doubt.
• Challenge the police investigation
  • Did police fail to collect important evidence?
  • Did they only get one side of the story?
  • Did they arrest you without properly investigating what actually happened?
• Find contradictions in police reports
  • If the officer’s report doesn’t match what witnesses said or what the evidence shows, your lawyer will use that to attack the prosecution’s case.

5. Prove Someone Else Did It (Misidentification)

If the alleged victim or witnesses misidentified you as the attacker, that’s a complete defense.

Your lawyer will present alibi witnesses, surveillance footage, or other evidence showing you weren’t the person who committed the assault.

6. Show You Were Defending Someone Else

Just like you can defend yourself, South Carolina law allows you to defend other people from harm.

If you used force to protect a family member, friend, or even a stranger from being attacked, that’s a valid defense.

Negotiating a Plea to Lesser Charges

Sometimes the best defense strategy is negotiating with prosecutors to reduce the charges.

ABHAN is a felony with up to 20 years in prison. But there are lesser included offenses:

• First-degree assault and battery carries up to 10 years.
• Second-degree assault and battery is a misdemeanor with up to 3 years.
• Third-degree assault and battery is a misdemeanor with up to 30 days.

Your lawyer can negotiate to have your ABHAN charge reduced to one of these lesser offenses in exchange for a guilty plea. This gets you a much lighter sentence and may even keep the felony off your record.

What Happens After You’re Charged

Once you’re arrested for ABHAN, here’s what to expect:

• Bond hearing. You’ll go before a judge who decides whether you can be released on bond. Given the serious nature of ABHAN, bond amounts are typically high.
• No-contact order. The judge will order you not to have any contact with the alleged victim.
• Discovery. Your lawyer will get all the evidence the prosecution plans to use against you—police reports, witness statements, medical records, photos, and videos.
• Pretrial motions. Your lawyer may file motions to suppress evidence, dismiss charges, or challenge the legality of your arrest.
• Plea negotiations. Your lawyer will negotiate with the solicitor’s office to try to get charges reduced or dismissed.
• Trial. If negotiations fail, your case goes to trial where a jury decides whether you’re guilty.

The Stakes Are Too High to Go Without a Lawyer

ABHAN is one of the most serious violent crime charges in South Carolina. A conviction means years in prison, a permanent felony record, loss of gun rights, difficulty finding employment, and destroyed relationships.

At Okoye Law, we’ve helped clients beat ABHAN charges through self-defense claims, negotiated reductions to lesser offenses, and won not guilty verdicts at trial.

We know how prosecutors build these cases. We know what evidence matters. And we know how to create reasonable doubt.

Contact Okoye Law today for a consultation. The sooner you hire a lawyer, the sooner we can start building your defense, gathering evidence, and protecting your rights.