South Florida Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog
CRIMES
50 ‘most charged’ crimes defined
ASSAULT
An “assault” is an intentional, unlawful threat by word or act to do violence to the person of another, coupled with an apparent ability to do so, and doing some act which creates a well-founded fear that violence is imminent.
The word assault is often confused with the word battery. They have quite different meanings in law.
The thing to keep in mind is that a battery is an unlawful touching. An assault is putting someone in fear of an unlawful touching.
To prove the crime of Assault the state must prove:
- The defendant intentionally and unlawfully threatened, either by word or act, to do violence to the victim.
- At the time the defendant appeared to have the ability to carry out the threat.
- The act of the defendant created in the mind of the victim a well-founded fear that the violence was about to take place.