Can my son be charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon?

If the State Attorney intends to pursue a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon against your son, the State Attorney must prove the following four elements of the offense beyond and to the exclusion of every reasonable doubt:

1) Your son intentionally and unlawfully threatened these people, either by word or by act, to do violence to them;

2) At the time of the alleged incident , your son appeared to have the ability to carry out the threat;

3) Your son's actions created in the minds of these people a well founded fear that the violence was about to take place; and

4) The assault was made with a deadly weapon.

Your son may be able to argue that he was acting in self defense, depending on where the alleged incident took place. If your son was on his property or in his house when these people threatened him, and he reasonably believed that he was in danger, he may have been justified in brandishing the weapon. If the incident between your son and these people took place off of your propery, he still may be able to argue that he was acting in self defense but it is more difficult.

Your son also may be able to argue that the pellet gun used during the alleged incident does not qualify as a deadly weapon.

I agree with my collegue. Your son can be charged, which only requires that the State have an evidential basis that meets the proof standard of probable cause. This standard requires that the State be able to establish that there is reason to believe that a crime was committed, and reason to believe that your son did it. The alleged statement of the neighbor would be sufficient to establish this evidential standard, and therefore your son can be charged by the police with the crime.

Whether the State would be able to establish it's case at trial, to the applicable standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt is another question. I believe I answered a related question pertaining to this case at http://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/is-lying-on-a...

I reiterate what I said there about contacting an attorney, and again suggest that you do it now. Good luck.

DISCLAIMER
This answer does not create an attorney-client relationship or constitute legal advice. Given the nature of this website, it is provided solely for informational purposes, for you to use as a starting point when speaking directly with a lawyer in your State. Do not assume that the legal theories I mention that pertain to NJ will apply in your State. I urge you to immediately contact an experienced criminal defense lawyer admitted to practice in your State before making any decisions about this case.