4 Myths About Fights and Assault Charges in Tennessee

Most assault charges in Nashville don't start with a plan. They start with a shove outside a bar, a shouting match over a property line, or two drivers who both got out of their cars at a red light. Afterward, people reach for the same reassurances: nobody got hurt, we both wanted it, I never used it, he swung first. Each one feels like common sense, and each one can leave you facing a charge you never saw coming. Here are four of those beliefs, and the rule that actually applies to each.

Myth 1: It is not assault if nobody actually got hurt.

In Tennessee, you can be charged with assault even when nobody was injured. Tennessee recognizes three forms of assault, and two of them need no injury at all: intentionally or knowingly making someone reasonably afraid they are about to be hurt right then, and intentionally or knowingly touching someone in a way a reasonable person would find extremely offensive or provocative, such as spitting on them. The fear form is the same top misdemeanor level as actually hitting someone, with up to eleven months and twenty-nine days in jail. Even the injury form is broader than people think, because bodily injury includes physical pain alone, with no mark or bruise, and it can be committed recklessly, not only on purpose. Tennessee also has no rule that words alone can never be assault; courts look at what was said, how it was said and the history between the two people. And pushing, hurting or spitting on an on-duty police officer or first responder is now a felony with mandatory jail time. If the other person is a family member or partner, even a no-injury assault is treated as domestic assault, which brings its own added penalties and can cost you the right to have a gun.

Myth 2: If we both agreed to fight, neither of us can be charged.

Tennessee has only a narrow consent defense, and it is not a "we both agreed" pass. Tennessee does not recognize "mutual combat" as a defense. Consent can help only when nobody was seriously hurt and the conduct did not risk serious injury, or when the injury is a normal, foreseeable part of a lawful sport, and a bar or parking-lot fight is not a lawful sport. Fighting in public can also be charged as a separate offense. The agreement has to be real, not pressured or tricked, and it does not count if you knew the other person was too drunk, too young or otherwise unable to decide. It also covers only what was agreed to: agreeing to a fistfight is not agreeing to a bottle, a knife, kicks to someone on the ground, or choking. Police can still arrest and charge, sometimes both people. We are not aware of any Tennessee appeals court that has accepted this defense for a mutual fight, and saying you agreed to fight can weaken a self-defense claim.

Myth 3: Pulling out a gun or a knife is not a crime as long as you never use it.

Showing a weapon without ever using it can be a felony in Tennessee. If you knowingly or deliberately show someone a gun, a knife or another dangerous object in a way that makes them reasonably afraid they are about to be hurt, the State can charge aggravated assault, even though nobody was touched or injured. That is a Class C felony, carrying three to fifteen years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000, and a first offender usually faces three to six years. Being allowed to carry the gun or knife makes no difference once it is shown to frighten someone. A gun is treated as a deadly weapon, loaded or not. Other objects, knives included, count when they are used, or meant to be used, in a way that could kill or seriously injure someone, and juries often infer that intent from how the object was held or shown. The other person does not have to say they were scared, because fear can be inferred from the situation.

Myth 4: Once someone swings at you, you can hit back as hard as you want.

Tennessee lets you use force to protect yourself, but only as much as you reasonably believe is needed right then to protect against the other person's unlawful force, and only while the threat lasts. Hitting back after the danger has passed, or to get even, is not self-defense, even if the other person hurt you first. Using or even threatening deadly force, such as pulling a weapon, requires a reasonable belief that you are in immediate danger of being killed, seriously injured or raped, and a sincere fear is not enough on its own. Tennessee courts have held that being punched by an unarmed person did not justify deadly force. If you started the confrontation, self-defense is generally not available at all unless you clearly tried to back out and the other person kept coming, and you cannot claim self-defense against force you agreed to in a fight. Once the evidence genuinely raises self-defense, the prosecution must disprove it beyond a reasonable doubt, but a judge first decides whether the jury may consider it at all, and the jury may simply not believe your account.

In each of these situations, the line between a heated moment and a criminal charge is closer than most people assume. The details decide everything: what was said, what was shown, who moved first and what happened next. Those details are exactly what gets lost when someone tries to explain themselves on the spot. If you are facing a charge, or think one may be coming, the safest step is to stop explaining and get advice about your specific facts.

About the Author

David G. Ridings is a Nashville criminal defense attorney, former police officer, and former prosecutor with nearly 40 years of experience in the Tennessee justice system. Known as “DrJudge,” he educates hundreds of thousands about their rights during police encounters.

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