Review of the California Crime of Assault With Intent to Commit a Felony Under Penal Code 220 PC. California Penal Code 220 defines the crime of assault with intent to commit a felony. An individual violates this section by assaulting another person with the intent to commit a serious sex crime.

If someone is convicted of it, they will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of their life.  It's also a crime that carries with it two, four, or six years in the state prison.  So, you're talking about one of the more serious sex crimes you could be charged with.

Sometimes it's referred to as assault with intent to commit rape.  Sometimes it's referred to as sexual assault.

The bottom line is that it has to do with the scenario where the alleged perpetrator is trying to have sex with the victim — is trying to touch the victim illegally to have sex with them.

Intent to Commit a Rape

It's going to cover a scenario where somebody attacks another person with the intent to rape them.  This Penal Code Section 220 is pretty broad.

You could get hit with it by trying to attack somebody to murder them; try to attack somebody to commit mayhem against them under Penal Code 203 PC.

There's a whole slew of crimes.  You're going after somebody, but you don't quite effectuate or complete the crime you're targeting.

But most of the time, when I see Penal Code Section 220 filed, it has to do with a sex crime case.  It has to do with the defendant trying to attack the victim, the victim fighting the defendant off, getting away from the defendant.

Sometimes, the crime is even perpetrated.  So, because it's such a severe crime, the prosecutors charge assault with an attempt to commit rape.

They can charge other charges along with that to hammer a particular defendant who is now going to be facing many years in prison if they're convicted with that assault with intent to commit a rape charge.

Defending PC 220 Assault to Commit a Felony Charges

So, if you or a loved one is charged with this crime, you will need a criminal defense attorney who has a lot of experience in this area.

I've been defending these types of cases now for 26 years.  I started out working for the District Attorney's office in East Los Angeles and handling their issues.

Then, in 1993, I worked for a Superior Court Judge for about a year as his research attorney, which gave me a good perspective on how judges view these cases, how they handle them, and what they're thinking about disposing of the issues that come before them.

In 1994, I decided to become a criminal defense attorney defending people charged with such crimes as assault with an attempt to commit rape and various other sex-related offenses.

So, I have a pretty good feel for how to defend these cases, and when I say defend these cases, there are many different ways that these cases can be defended.

For example, we can be defending it in a jury trial and making the argument to the jury that the defendant is innocent — that he did not commit this crime — that there's some motive behind why the alleged victim is accusing him of this crime.

Intoxication and False Allegation Defense

Sometimes we have situations where the person is very drunk or has taken many pills or narcotics and can't even remember what happened but just thinks they were sexually assaulted.

Other times, we have situations where the alleged victim is trying to gain something from the defendant, and that's why they're accusing them of such a severe crime.  Sometimes, we can even have a scenario where the person is wrong about who the perpetrator was at the time.

On the flip side, sometimes the government, the prosecutors, the police have the evidence to convict the defendant of a Penal Code Section 220, and we need to do damage control.  We need to see if it's possible to get probation.

We need to try to keep the person out of prison.  There's a lot of things on the line, so when we say defense of these cases, we're talking about the entire umbrella of reasons.

Contact the Hedding Law Firm If Charged with a Sex Crime

One of the first things we do is figure out what our defense will be.  What will we be trying to accomplish based on the circumstances we find ourselves in?  If you need help, you've come to the right place.

Let me put my experience to work for you or your loved one.  Pick up the phone.  Make the call.  Don't be shy.  Ask to speak to Ron Hedding.  I stand at the ready to help you.

Hedding Law Firm is a criminal defense law firm located in Los Angeles County at 16000 Ventura Blvd #1208 Encino, CA 91436. Contact us for a free case evaluation at (213) 542-0979.