Nashville Assault Attorney
The distance between a Class B misdemeanor and a Class C felony can be a single word in a police report. Austin Tomlinson is a Nashville assault attorney who defends these charges in Davidson County and across Middle Tennessee.
Is There a Battery Charge in Tennessee?
No. Tennessee does not have a separate battery offense. What other states split into assault and battery, Tennessee folds into one statute at Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-101. People still search for battery charges, and they are charged here as assault.
Assault covers three different things, and they carry different weight. Causing bodily injury is one. Causing someone to reasonably fear imminent bodily injury, with no contact at all, is another. Physical contact a reasonable person would find extremely offensive or provocative, with no injury, is the third. Which one gets charged sets your ceiling before any facts are argued.
Tennessee Assault Penalties
Classes come from Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-101 and § 39-13-102. For what each class carries in years, see the sentencing chart.
| Conduct charged | Mental state | Class |
|---|---|---|
| Bodily injury | Intentional, knowing or reckless | Class A misdemeanor |
| Fear of imminent bodily injury | Intentional or knowing | Class A misdemeanor |
| Extremely offensive or provocative contact | Intentional or knowing | Class B misdemeanor |
| Serious bodily injury | Intentional or knowing | Class C felony |
| Serious bodily injury | Reckless | Class D felony |
| Use or display of a deadly weapon | Intentional or knowing | Class C felony |
| Use or display of a deadly weapon | Reckless | Class D felony |
| Strangulation | Intentional or knowing | Class C felony |
| Strangulation, pregnant victim | Intentional or knowing | Class B felony |
| Assault resulting in death | Intentional or knowing | Class C felony |
| Assault resulting in death | Reckless | Class D felony |
Two words in that table decide almost everything. Serious bodily injury is a defined legal standard, not an adjective an officer gets to pick, and the gap between bodily injury and serious bodily injury is the gap between a misdemeanor and a Class C felony. Reckless rather than intentional drops an aggravated assault a full class. Both are argued on the medical records and the circumstances, and both are worth fighting for.
What Counts as a Deadly Weapon?
A deadly weapon is not limited to a gun or a knife. Tennessee reaches anything capable of causing death or serious bodily injury in the manner it was used. A bottle, a boot, a baseball bat, a vehicle, even a floor somebody's head was pushed into have all supported aggravated assault charges.
That breadth is why a bar fight in downtown Nashville can end as a Class C felony instead of a misdemeanor. It also cuts the other way. Whether an object was in fact used in a manner capable of causing serious injury is a question of fact, and questions of fact are arguable in a way that a statutory element is not.
The same is true of display. The statute reaches use or display, so an aggravated charge can rest on whether a weapon was shown at all, and on whether the other person actually saw what they say they saw.
Self-Defense Under Tennessee Law
Under Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-11-611, you may use force when you reasonably believe it is immediately necessary to protect against another's unlawful force. Tennessee imposes no duty to retreat where you have a right to be and are not engaged in conduct that would constitute a felony or Class A misdemeanor. That is a narrower disqualifier than "unlawful activity," and the difference matters.
No Duty to Retreat
If you are somewhere you have a right to be and you are not committing a felony or Class A misdemeanor, you do not have to back away before defending yourself.
The Home, Business and Vehicle Presumption
Where someone unlawfully and forcibly enters your residence, business, dwelling or vehicle, the law presumes you held a reasonable belief of imminent death or serious bodily injury.
Deadly Force Has a Higher Bar
Deadly force requires imminent danger of death, serious bodily injury or grave sexual abuse, and the danger must be real or honestly believed to be real.
The Presumption Has Limits
It does not apply if you were engaged in conduct amounting to a felony or Class A misdemeanor, or using the place to further unlawful activity. Facts matter here.
A New Felony Tier, and a Wider Justification for Deadly Force
Two 2026 acts changed this area, and they cut in opposite directions. One added a new, lower felony tier to an existing offense. The other widened when deadly force to protect property is justified, replacing the old rule outright rather than adding to it.
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Adulterating food, drink or medication reaches lower than it used to
Be careful with how this one is being reported. Section 39-17-107 is not new. It already made it an offense to adulterate a food product or liquid produced for human consumption, or a pharmaceutical product, by placing in, mixing with or adding to it any object, liquid, powder or other substance with intent to cause bodily injury (a Class C felony) or serious bodily injury or death (Class B), and it already covered pharmaceuticals.
2026 Tenn. Acts ch. 1131 deleted the section and substituted a new one whose real change is a third, lower tier: intent to cause involuntary intoxication is now a Class D felony. That reaches conduct with no injury at all, which is a meaningful widening even though the headline reads like a brand new law. The grade turns on which intent the State can actually prove, and intent is an element, not a charging election.
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Deadly force to protect property, under four conditions
2026 Tenn. Acts ch. 1100 deleted § 39-11-614(c) and substituted a new rule. A person who is not engaged in conduct that would be a felony or a Class A misdemeanor, and who is in a place where the person lawfully resides, is justified in using deadly force to protect property when: the person would be justified in using force under (a) or (b); “when and to the degree” the person reasonably believes deadly force is immediately necessary to prevent another's imminent commission of arson, burglary, robbery, aggravated robbery or aggravated cruelty to animals; the person reasonably believes the property cannot be protected or the conduct stopped by any other means; and either there is imminent danger of death, serious bodily injury or grave sexual abuse, or using non-deadly force would expose someone to that risk.
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Read the limits on that one carefully
All four conditions are cumulative. The fourth is the only one with alternatives inside it, satisfied by either (A) or (B). And the two threshold qualifiers come first: “a place where the person lawfully resides” is narrower than the familiar phrase “a place where the person has a right to be,” and a person already engaged in felony or Class A misdemeanor conduct is outside the provision entirely.
The same act amended § 39-11-616(a) so that a spring gun or other device cannot be used to deliver this new deadly force. A justification that fits a person standing in their own home does not transfer to a device left behind.
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And it reached the citizen's arrest statute too
Section 2 of the same act amended § 39-11-621, which governs the use of deadly force by a private citizen, by widening its exception from “self-defense or defense of third person” under §§ 39-11-611 and 39-11-612 to include the protection of property statute at § 39-11-614. That carries the new justification into the citizen's arrest setting, and it is the half of this act that most summaries leave out.
Where Nashville Assault Cases Break Down
Most assault cases come down to two people telling different stories about a few seconds. What fills the gap between those stories is where the case is decided, and it is the first thing a Nashville assault attorney goes looking for.
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Who Started It
Officers arriving after the fact identify an aggressor from what they can see and who speaks first. That determination is frequently wrong and almost always challengeable.
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Whether the Injury Was Serious
Serious bodily injury has a legal definition. Medical records, photographs and the treating provider's notes decide whether the charge should be a felony at all.
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Intentional, Knowing or Reckless
Mental state drops an aggravated assault a full class. What actually happened in those seconds usually supports a lower mental state than the charge assumes.
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Video
Bar cameras, doorbells, parking lot systems and phones in bystanders' hands. Footage gets overwritten in days, which is why early involvement matters.
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Witness Credibility
Intoxication, sightlines, how long they actually watched, what they were told afterward, and what they said in the first five minutes versus at trial.
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Mutual Combat
Two willing participants in a fight is not the same case the State charged. It changes both the negotiation and the jury instruction.
Assault vs Domestic Assault
Domestic assault is the same conduct charged against a domestic abuse victim under § 39-13-111. The class can be identical, but the consequences are not. A domestic conviction requires surrendering every firearm you own within 48 hours, and a qualifying one triggers a federal firearm ban on top of that. An ordinary assault conviction does neither.
The statutory relationship list is broader than people expect and reaches roommates, former partners and people who have dated. If the domestic label is on your charge and the relationship does not actually fit, removing it is one of the most valuable things that can happen in the case.
Veterans Facing an Assault Charge
A confrontation that escalated, a startle response, a crowd at close quarters. These are not excuses and no court treats them as one, but where a service-connected condition is genuinely part of the picture, Tennessee has a statutory path built for exactly that circumstance.
The Davidson County Veterans Treatment Court routes eligible veterans toward treatment rather than conviction, through a diversion program or as a condition of probation. A felony assault conviction also ends firearm rights, which for many veterans is the career. Austin is a veteran and puts both on the table in the first conversation.
Veterans Defense OptionsService Connection as Mitigation
A documented service-connected condition carries real weight with a prosecutor and a judge. It has to be raised early and with records behind it.
Veterans Treatment Court
Structured treatment and a veteran mentor instead of jail, for veterans the court screens and admits.
PTSD and TBI as Context
Service-connected trauma is never an excuse and Austin does not present it as one. It is context, and it belongs in front of the prosecutor.
Why Clients Hire Austin as Their Nashville Assault Attorney
Evidence Chased Early
Surveillance footage disappears on a schedule. Getting preservation letters out in the first week is often the whole difference.
The Charge Itself Gets Attacked
Serious bodily injury, deadly weapon, mental state. Moving any one of them moves the class, and the class moves everything else.
One Lawyer, Start To Finish
Austin handles the intake, the negotiation and the court dates himself. No handoff to an associate.
Nashville Assault Charge FAQ
Can I be charged with assault if I never touched anyone?
Yes. Intentionally or knowingly causing another person to reasonably fear imminent bodily injury is a Class A misdemeanor assault in Tennessee, with no contact required. These cases rest entirely on what somebody says they felt, which makes them among the more defensible assault charges.
What is the difference between bodily injury and serious bodily injury?
It is the difference between a misdemeanor and a Class C felony. Serious bodily injury is a defined standard involving things like substantial risk of death, protracted unconsciousness, disfigurement or extended loss of function. A cut lip or a bruise is bodily injury. Whether an injury crosses into serious is argued on the medical records, not on how it looked to the officer.
He swung first. Why was I the one arrested?
Officers arrive after it is over and decide from injuries, demeanor and who called. The person who is calmer, less injured, or slower to call often gets arrested. That decision is not a finding of fact and it gets challenged with video, medical records and witnesses.
Can an assault charge be dismissed or expunged?
Assault is generally eligible for diversion depending on your record and the facts, and a completed diversion ends in dismissal. Dismissed charges are generally eligible for expungement, which is a separate filing that has to actually be made. That is a very different picture from DUI, where neither is available.
Does an assault conviction take my gun rights?
A felony conviction does. An ordinary misdemeanor assault generally does not. A misdemeanor domestic assault conviction requires you to surrender your firearms within 48 hours under Tennessee law, and if the relationship meets the narrower federal definition it also triggers a federal ban. That is why the domestic label on a charge matters far more than the class does.
What if it was a mutual fight?
Mutual combat is a real and materially different scenario from an unprovoked attack, and it affects both how a prosecutor values the case and how a jury is instructed. It is not an automatic defense, and establishing it takes evidence rather than assertion.
How long does an assault case take in Davidson County?
A misdemeanor assault in General Sessions commonly runs three to five months. Aggravated assault is a felony, goes to the grand jury, and if indicted moves to Criminal Court, where nine months to two years is typical.