State Criminal Defense

Understanding Assault

Floridians often feel surprised to learn that they might face criminal charges for assault without ever laying a hand on someone. How is this possible? Florida defines assault as any unlawful threat by word or action to injure someone else. The person should also have the ability to carry out this threat, which creates fear in the other person. Note that battery is the charge that results from actually following through on the threat or making physical contact with the other person.

Potential Defenses

Often times, police officers appear on the scene hours or even years after the initial event that led to this one instance when you retaliated. They have no idea what the circumstances are but make their allegations and arrests based on what they see before them. Your attorney may work toward securing your freedom by injecting some context into the case with one of the following defenses:

• • You acted in self-defense.
• • You stepped in to protect someone else.
• • You had no intention to inflict injury or harm.
• • You acted in defense of property.
• • You were provoked by the alleged victim.

Special Victims

If the case involves special victims, it might add more complexities and make a lengthier sentence more likely. Professionals that work in the safety sector might become special victims while on the job. This includes not just firefighters and police officers, but also EMTs, security officers and code inspectors. Some people are also special victims irrespective of the work status, such as people over 65 years old, elected officials and school teachers.