Unprovoked, violent assaults are difficult to understand - let alone to defend. In our experience, they are also fairly rare.
Of the many types of criminal allegations assaults are one of the most complicated because of the importance of witness statements, recreating emotions, and understanding perceptions before and during the confrontation.
No other area of the law affords greater protection than when a person is accused of an assault. The right to defend oneself, one's home, and others is nearly inviolate. In the last legislative session the Legislature acknowledged this long-standing tradition by passing the Castle Doctrine. While it has long been the law in Texas that a person does not need to retreat when confronted with an illegal intrusion, the person no longer [get the wording down about the presumption]. Verbal provocation or fighting words will never justify a fight. However, you don't have to get hit first to be entitled to assert your right to self-defense. The issue for the jury is whether or not during the heat of the exchange the person had a reasonable belief that their action was immediately necessary to prevent the other's unlawful use of force.
Assaults involving deadly weapons are automatically enhanced to a second degree felony, as are fights which result in serious bodily injury. What constitutes a deadly weapon has been a dispute between prosecutors and defense lawyers ever since the legislature expanded the definition to include any object by its use or intended use which can cause serious bodily injury. This has led to a number of ridiculous appellate decisions upholding items like raw sewage or child's safety scissors to be on equal footing with guns and knives.