eXtenDing the BounDs of an assauLt
Criminal law Section
Chair: Justin Petredis - Law Offices of Justin Petredis, P.A.
criminal defense attorneys
need to be aware that
bystanders to a crime
A
n “assault” is defined
as “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 in such other person
that such violence is imminent.”
So an assault has three elements:
(1) an intentional, unlawful threat
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have a chance to become
victims as well under
the logic of williams.
by word or act; (2) an apparent
ability to carry out the threat; and
(3) creation of a well-founded fear
that violence is imminent.
When considering the first
element, the focus is on the
perpetrator’s intent and “not the
reaction of the person perceiving
the word or act.” Benitez v. State,
901 So. 2d 935, 937 (Fla. 4th DCA
2005); J.S. v. State, 207 So. 3d 903
(Fla. 4th DCA 2017). For example,
in J.S. v. State, the Fourth District
Court of Appeal overturned a
delinquency adjudication, which
was based on a burglary with
assault, because the defendant’s act
of pulling out a pellet gun, while he
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