If you have been arrested for any crime, the best thing to do is to contact a criminal defense attorney in Miami Dade Florida as soon as possible, regardless of the severity of the offense. However, if you have been charged with the offense of aggravated assault, hiring an experienced criminal defense attorney in Miami Dade for legal advice and representation is crucial, since the crime is classified as a third degree felony (or higher depending upon the weapon) with some serious punishments if convicted.

While the crimes of assault and battery often arise together, they are actually two separate offenses which are defined differently under Florida criminal law. The general definition of assault refers to a threat of harm that leads the hearer of the threat to fear imminent harm. The offense of assault does not require any physical contact. Florida Statute 784.021 specifically defines the crime of aggravated assault as;

an intentional and unlawful threat, by word or act, to commit violence against another person; with the apparent ability to carry through with the threat at the time it was made; which created a genuine fear in the intended victim that the violence was imminent; and the accused made the threat: with a Deadly Weapon, or In the commission of a felony. A deadly weapon is any object used or threatened to be used in a way likely to produce death or great bodily harm.

There are some potential defenses to aggravated assault which include accident and lack of intent.

If you are convicted of aggravated assault, you may receive a punishment of up to five years in prison, up to five years of probation, and up to $5,000 in fines, or a combination of the three options. You should also remember that in a criminal proceeding, the burden is upon the prosecution to prove all the elements of the crime in order to get a conviction.