Assault

Under Florida law, Assault is different from Battery. Assault means to make a threat that leads to the victim feeling fear of imminent harm. This means the police and the prosecutor do not have to show any physical contact between the perpetrator and the victim. To prove assault, the prosecutor has to show only that you intended to threaten the so-called victim, and intended to cause this person to feel fear, and that you were able carry out your threat. The prosecutor must also show that the harm the so-called victim feared was imminent, which means that it would happen right away.

Assault cases are often filed when someone wants to get you in trouble. You may have been arguing or fighting back and forth. Text messages or voicemails are often involved. When your patience is at its lowest, when you are saying regrettable things, that person is already planning to get you arrested.

Often, whatever they said or did to upset you is left out of their report.

A good Miami criminal lawyer will bring all this to light. The prosecutor, the judge, and ultimately the jury if it gets that far, needs to know the whole picture. If they are to judge how “afraid” your victim was, they need to know how the victim has treated you, and what they have said to you. Before phone records are lost, before texts are erased, before social media is deleted, talk to a lawyer.

In Florida, you can also be faced with more serious charges like Aggravated Assault if the police find certain things are true – usually depending on the types of threats made. Every word counts and a good lawyer will make sure to examine every word.

Because these charges can mean years in state prison it is important to get legal advice now. Grant Dwyer is an experienced Miami criminal defense lawyer with great success beating these types of cases.

Call us at (305) 215-7586 or click HERE.