Aggravated assault in Louisiana is an assault committed with a dangerous weapon, and the base offense under Louisiana Revised Statutes 14:37 is a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.1Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes 14:37 – Aggravated Assault That baseline penalty is only part of the picture. Louisiana treats aggravated assault involving a firearm, a peace officer, or a dating partner as separate felonies, and each of those carries years of prison time.
What Counts as Aggravated Assault
Two elements have to line up: an assault, and a dangerous weapon.
An assault is either an attempt to commit a battery on someone or intentionally placing another person in reasonable fear of receiving a battery. No contact is required. Pointing a weapon during an argument, swinging a bat and missing, or lunging with a knife can all qualify. The same conduct without a weapon is simple assault, which caps out at 90 days in jail and a $200 fine.2Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes 14:38 – Simple Assault
“Dangerous weapon” reaches well beyond firearms and knives. The statutory test is whether the object, in the manner used, is likely to produce death or great bodily harm. Louisiana courts have applied that definition to baseball bats, glass bottles, metal pipes, and hot liquids or chemicals thrown at a victim. What matters is how the object was used, not what it was designed for. A beer bottle on a table is harmless; smashed and thrust at someone’s face, it becomes a dangerous weapon.
The Standard Penalty
A conviction for basic aggravated assault under RS 14:37 carries a maximum fine of $1,000, a maximum jail term of six months, or both.1Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes 14:37 – Aggravated Assault The statute does not authorize hard labor, so this offense is a misdemeanor. The judge can impose the fine alone, jail alone, or a combination, weighing the defendant’s history and the specific facts of the incident.
The misdemeanor label is misleading in one important way. Aggravated assault is designated a crime of violence in Louisiana, and that label attaches even to the base offense. It surfaces on background checks, influences future sentencing, and complicates expungement.
When Aggravated Assault Becomes a Felony
Three variants of the offense are prosecuted under separate statutes and carry prison time at hard labor.
With a Firearm
If the dangerous weapon is a firearm, the charge falls under RS 14:37.4. The penalty is up to ten years in prison, with or without hard labor, and a fine of up to $10,000.3Justia. Louisiana Revised Statutes 14:37.4 – Aggravated Assault With a Firearm The statute defines a firearm as an instrument that propels shot, shell, or bullets through the explosion of gunpowder. Because hard labor is authorized, this is a felony no matter what sentence the judge actually imposes. Prosecutors commonly bring this charge when someone brandishes, points, or fires a gun during a confrontation without striking the victim.
Against a Peace Officer
Under RS 14:37.2, assaulting a peace officer performing official duties is a felony on its own, and this statute does not require a dangerous weapon. Any assault on a working peace officer qualifies. The penalty is a fine of up to $5,000, imprisonment for one to ten years with or without hard labor, or both.4Justia. Louisiana Revised Statutes 14:37.2 – Aggravated Assault Upon a Peace Officer The one-year minimum means every conviction results in at least a year of incarceration.
Against a Dating Partner
RS 14:34.9.1 applies when aggravated assault is committed by one dating partner against another. It requires both a dangerous weapon and a dating relationship, and it carries a mandatory hard-labor sentence of one to five years plus a fine of up to $5,000. If a child age thirteen or younger was present, the mandatory minimum jumps to two years at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.5Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes 14:34.9.1 – Aggravated Assault Upon a Dating Partner The statute defines dating partner broadly to cover anyone in a sexual or intimate relationship with the offender, regardless of whether they currently live together, but it excludes casual relationships and ordinary social or business contacts.
Restitution and Probation
A court will order restitution whenever the victim suffered an actual financial loss. Louisiana law makes this mandatory in every case where the court finds pecuniary loss, and the judge has no discretion to skip it. Payments go through a court-designated intermediary rather than directly to the victim, unless the victim consents to direct payment.6Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure Article 883.2 – Restitution to Victim If the defendant cannot pay in full at sentencing, the court can set up a periodic payment plan.
For the misdemeanor version, the court can suspend the sentence and place the defendant on probation for up to two years. The judge has wide latitude to attach conditions such as anger management classes, community service, substance abuse treatment, or geographic restrictions.7Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure Article 894 – Suspension and Deferral of Sentence; Probation in Misdemeanor Cases Violating any condition can result in revocation and imposition of the original sentence.
What a Conviction Costs Beyond the Sentence
Every form of aggravated assault in Louisiana, including the base misdemeanor, is classified as a crime of violence. For the felony variants, a conviction triggers a state-law ban on possessing firearms. The ban runs throughout any period of probation or parole and continues for ten years after the person completes the sentence. Violating the ban is a separate felony punishable by five to twenty years at hard labor and a fine of $1,000 to $5,000.8Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes 14:95.1 – Possession of Firearm or Carrying Concealed Weapon by a Person Convicted of Certain Felonies Federal law imposes its own lifetime firearm ban on anyone convicted of a felony, which applies on top of the state prohibition.
A crime-of-violence conviction also creates difficulties with employment, professional licensing, housing applications, and immigration status. These consequences often matter more to defendants than the sentence itself, particularly for the misdemeanor charge where jail time may be minimal but the record persists.
Defenses That Can Defeat the Charge
Self-Defense and Defense of Property
Louisiana law allows a person to use reasonable force to prevent a forcible offense against themselves or to protect property in their lawful possession. The force used must be both reasonable and apparently necessary. Louisiana is a stand your ground state: a person who is lawfully present and not engaged in illegal activity has no duty to retreat before using force, and jurors cannot consider whether retreat was possible when evaluating reasonableness.
When self-defense is raised, the prosecution carries the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did not act in self-defense.9Justia. Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure Article 390 – Burden of Proof; Justification of Self-Defense Raised; Probable Cause The defendant must give written notice of the self-defense claim to the district attorney within ten days after the state requests discovery, though courts can extend this deadline for good cause. If the prosecution cannot disprove self-defense, the charge collapses.
Lack of Intent
Assault requires either an attempt to commit a battery or the intentional creation of fear. If the defendant’s actions were accidental or lacked the required intent, the charge may be reduced or dismissed. Someone who stumbles while holding a knife and frightens a bystander is in a fundamentally different situation than someone who brandishes that knife during an argument. Surveillance footage, witness accounts, and context can be decisive.
Mistaken Identity
In chaotic situations like bar fights, large gatherings, or dimly lit parking lots, witnesses frequently misidentify the aggressor. A mistaken-identity defense challenges the reliability of eyewitness testimony, highlights procedural errors in the investigation such as flawed photo lineups or suggestive questioning, or presents alibi evidence placing the defendant elsewhere at the time of the offense.
Can an Aggravated Assault Conviction Be Expunged
The answer depends entirely on whether the conviction was a misdemeanor or a felony.
For the base misdemeanor under RS 14:37, expungement is available once five years have passed since the person completed the sentence, probation, or parole, provided the person has no felony convictions during that period and no pending felony charges. A motion filed under Article 977 must include a certification from the district attorney verifying the clean record.10Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure Article 977 – Motion to Expunge a Record of Arrest and Conviction of a Misdemeanor Offense
The felony variants face a much harder path. Under Article 978, a person convicted of a crime of violence cannot file for felony expungement unless the specific offense is listed among a narrow set of exceptions. Aggravated assault with a firearm, aggravated assault upon a peace officer, and aggravated assault upon a dating partner are not on that list.11Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure Article 978 – Motion to Expunge Record of Arrest and Conviction of a Felony Offense Under current law, these felony convictions appear permanently ineligible for expungement. That reality is one reason the specific charge filed at the outset carries so much weight through the rest of a case.