According to Florida law, aggravated assault consists of four elements:
In short, aggravated assault involves the additional act of using a deadly weapon or the intent to commit a felony.
While guns, knives, and even automobiles may first come to mind when thinking of a deadly weapon, far more objects can be used to cause harm or fear than just these three. A deadly weapon is any object that can be used to cause another person serious bodily harm or death. Besides the obvious guns and knives, Florida law also recognizes these other objects as deadly weapons:
The intent to commit a felony, refers to the conscious decision by the offender to cause serious bodily harm or death to the victim. When an aggravated assault case is presented at trial, the intent to commit the felony is the essence of the charge and what the State must prove.
The penalties an individual may face can vary depending on the circumstances surrounding his or her case. Penalties for a typical aggravated assault include:
Anytime a weapon is present during a crime, the penalties increase. Florida recognizes aggravated assault with a deadly weapon as a third-degree felony and imposes strict penalties even for a first offense:
The State of Florida requires mandatory minimum sentencing whenever a deadly weapon is used for specific crimes. Mandatory sentencing includes:
Florida considers possessing a firearm or other deadly weapon when involved in a crime to be a punishable offense. Similarly to the way using a deadly weapon elevates penalties associated with aggravated assault, so does the use of a firearm. Mandatory minimum penalties are enforced whenever a firearm or deadly weapon is discharged and fired during an aggravated assault or battery. Those penalties include:
While aggravated assault with a deadly weapon is typically charged as a third-degree felony, it can be considered a second-degree felony if the act is against special victims. This comes with a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. Special victims are deemed to be specific public servants who suffer attacks when engaged in professional duties, including:
Special victims who do not need to be performing professional duties at the time of assault include:
These types of cases are often easily defendable in the absence of physical injuries and due to disputes on how the events occurred. Some common defenses include:
While Florida law recognizes assault and battery as two separate crimes, they may be committed concurrently. The main distinction between the two is that assault involves fear of immediate harm, and battery involves intentional, unwanted contact. For example, suppose an individual holds a baseball bat and threatens another person. In that case, the threatened person will have a fear of harm, and an assault has occurred despite there being no physical contact. Battery would involve striking the individual with the bat. Thus, assault requires intent to cause harm, whereas battery entails causing harm.
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