Assault

If you have been charged with assault in South Florida contact criminal defense attorney Benjamin Herbst anytime for a free consultation at (954) 543-0305. Benjamin has successfully defended hundreds of clients charged with assault and has the experience and knowledge to achieve the best possible result in your case. Under Florida criminal law 784.011, assault is defined as an intentional, unlawful threat by word or act to do violence to another person. In addition to making the threat there must also be a well-founded fear in the other person that violence is imminent. In normal every day terms this basically means threatening another person with violence and having the ability to carry out that threat. A threat to hurt someone in the future does not fall under the Florida assault law. Anyone convicted of assault faces the possibility of up to 60 days in jail, probation and a conviction for a second-degree misdemeanor, but with the right representation there is a great chance all of the consequences can be avoided.

There are numerous defenses to assault cases and an experienced Florida assault lawyer can argue at trial, or bring up to the State’s Attorney prior to court. It is a complete affirmative defense that defendant had no ability to carry out the threat. An example of this would be if someone made a threatening statement in passing or in jest. Telling someone you are going to kill them or shoot them may not be a good idea, but it is also not likely to be enough for a crime. The problem is that personal disputes often lead people to embellish stories, and the result is that a person can be charged when there really isn’t enough evidence. The key is to retain an attorney early on in the process so that the lawyer may step in and attempt to get the prosecutor to dismiss the charges before they are actually fired. The police have a tendency to err on the side of caution when choosing to charge a person, but the prosecutors are typically more capable of seeing through false accusations, and this is especially true when a defense lawyer is involved and able to explain what really happened.

If you have been charged with assault in Florida do not assume you will end up with a criminal conviction. You have numerous options available and Benjamin Herbst will take the time to explain all of these options. In addition to negotiating to have your case dismissed before it is filed, Benjamin can also negotiate to have your case placed in a diversion program. The programs have slightly different names in the Tri County area, but all are basically the same. In Miami-Dade a defendant with an assault charge may be eligible for PTD or pretrial diversion. At the conclusion of PTD the charges will be nolle prossed or dismissed by the State. Broward County calls their diversion program for assault the MDP or misdemeanor diversion program, which is offered in County Court for certain misdemeanors. Palm Beach County also offers pretrial diversion, as does Martin County and St. Lucie County.

Diversion may not be available in all assault cases, and sometimes the completing a diversion program might not be the best option. Benjamin will never advise clients to plead guilty if they have not done anything wrong, but he also will not convince clients to complete pretrial diversion when the case is winnable. Diversion programs can require a time and money commitment that is simply not fair for an innocent person to be subjected to, and Benjamin will look carefully at all the facts of your case before advising you on a course of action. Call South Florida assault lawyer Benjamin Herbst today at (954) 543-0305 for a free no obligation consultation, and learn how you can fight your chares today. In addition to defending assault clients from Miami, Broward Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie Counties, Benjamin also specializes in representing out of state defendants who are visiting the Florida area for vacation or business. He also specializes in defending domestic assault cases and juvenile assault cases in all South Florida courts.