Assault and Battery Lawyer in Tampa

Defending Clients Against Serious Criminal Charges

The law in Florida defines assault and battery as two different crimes. Generally speaking, someone who commits assault has threatened to use imminent force or violence, while someone who commits battery has touched another person physically to cause harm or injury. Understanding how assault and battery differ and what potential penalties you could face if you’re convicted is the first step in starting your defense.

If you are charged with assault and/or battery in the Tampa Bay area, you can’t afford to hire the wrong Tampa criminal defense attorney — someone who’s inexperienced or someone who will simply advise you to plead guilty. An assault or battery conviction has serious consequences, and you need an attorney who knows how the system works and how to fight your charges. Call attorney Patrick B. Courtney, P.A., to discuss your case and next steps.

How Is Assault Defined?

Here in Florida, misdemeanor assault (also called “simple” assault) is an intentional, illegal threat that one person makes against another person and that creates the “reasonable fear” that physical harm or violence is about to happen. Defining reasonable fear can be difficult, and whether the alleged victim had reason to fear often becomes an important part of the defense strategy. In general, a person may argue that they had reasonable fear they were going to be harmed if:

Someone advances toward them with something that could be used as a weapon
Someone threatens to hurt them in some way
Someone has already committed an act of violence against another party during the same incident

The prosecution will attempt to show evidence that the alleged victim had reason to fear for their safety by introducing evidence and testimony that supports this.

What Are the Penalties for Assault?

Under Florida law, simple assault is a second-degree misdemeanor. A conviction is punishable by a fine of up to $500, up to six months on probation, and up to sixty days in jail.

Aggravated assault (also called “felony” assault) is defined in Florida as an intentional, unlawful threat against another person, with a deadly weapon, or while in the commission of a felony, which creates “reasonable fear” that violence or physical injury is imminent.

Aggravated assault is a third-degree felony in this state, punishable upon conviction by a fine of up to $5,000, up to five years on probation, and up to five years in prison.

How Is Battery Defined?

Battery is actual physical contact with someone else. Assault, on the other hand, and in most cases, is only the threat of physical contact. Battery can be committed with a hand, object, or weapon. However, it must be committed with intent. If the defendant caused the injury accidentally and with no intent to harm the other party, the defense could argue that it doesn’t meet the legal definition of battery.

What Are the Penalties for Battery?

Florida has established several battery charges, including misdemeanor battery, felony battery, and aggravated battery. How a battery charge is classified depends on the circumstances surrounding the case, including how badly someone was injured and whether the defendant used a weapon.

Simple Battery

Misdemeanor or “simple” battery is a first-degree misdemeanor, punishable upon conviction by a fine of up to $1,000, up to one year on probation, and up to a year in jail. If a defendant has a prior conviction for simple battery, any subsequent battery offense is charged as felony battery.

Felony Battery

Felony battery is defined as intentionally striking or touching someone in a way that causes “great bodily harm.” Felony battery is a third-degree felony, punishable upon conviction by up to five years in prison.

Aggravated Battery

Aggravated battery is the intentional touching of another person with a deadly weapon or with the intent to inflict great bodily harm. In Florida, a conviction for aggravated battery may be penalized with up to fifteen years in prison.

How does the law define a “deadly” weapon? Any weapon is considered “deadly” if it is used – or if someone threatens to use it – in a way that is likely to produce death or great bodily harm.

Sentencing Escalations

The penalties for a battery conviction can be harsher if the battery victim was a law enforcement officer, a firefighter, or an emergency medical care provider who was engaged in the lawful performance of his or her duty at the time of the battery incident.

What About Assault and Battery Arising From Domestic Violence?

In Florida, domestic violence is any assault, battery, felony or aggravated battery, sexual assault, aggravated assault, or other crime that results in the death or physical injury of a household member or family member by another member of that household or family.

For an assault or a battery to constitute domestic violence, the household or family members must reside together now or must have resided together in the past. The only exception is for parents of the same child. Florida law defines household or family members as:

Wives, ex-wives, husbands, and ex-husbands
Persons residing together as a family or related by marriage or blood
Persons who have lived together in the past as a family
Parents of the same child whether married or not married

When a battery or an assault constitutes domestic violence, the penalties are harsher for convictions.

What to Do If You Are Charged With Assault or Battery in Tampa

Self-defense, defense of others, and defense of property are the usual defenses against assault and battery charges. You may be able to claim that you were misidentified. Your lawyer may be able to prove that no assault or battery ever happened. It all depends on the details of the case.

Whatever those details are, if you are accused of assault or battery, or both, you should not act as your own attorney. Every defendant needs sound legal guidance and effective defense representation.

With more than 24 years of legal experience — including prosecutorial experience — Tampa criminal defense attorney Pat Courtney knows how to protect a defendant’s rights and how to bring an assault or battery case to its best possible conclusion.

Pat Courtney serves clients in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Polk, Manatee, and Sarasota counties. Learn more by calling his offices at (813) 252-1529 or by completing the online contact form on this website.