F.S. 784.021 [Felony Third Degree]

Before you can find a person guilty of Aggravated Assault, the State Attorney’s Office must prove the following four elements beyond a reasonable doubt:

1. Defendant intentionally and unlawfully threatened, either by word or act, to do violence to the victim, and
2. At the time of the act the Defendant appeared to have the ability to carry out the threat, and
3. The act of the Defendant created in the mind of the victim a well-founded fear that violence was about to take place, and
4. i. The assault was made with a deadly weapon, or

ii. The assault was made with a fully-formed, conscious intent to commit (crime charged) upon the victim.

NOTE:
1. Deadly Weapon: A deadly weapon is “any instrument which, when it is used in the ordinary manner contemplated by its design and construction, will or is likely to cause death or great bodily harm, or any instrument which is likely to cause great bodily harm due to how it was used during the commission of the crime. See Taylor v. State, 672 So. 2d 580 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996).