Aggravated Assault
Your Future Is at Risk!
Aggravated Assault
In Florida, the crime of assault occurs when someone threatens to do bodily harm to another. It does not require going through with the threat or even making the slightest physical contact, as long as the person making the threat appears capable of carrying it out and the person on the receiving end of the threat has a well founded fear of imminent harm.
If you have been accused of any degree of assault, you are facing an uncertain future with possible jail time if you are convicted; but if you have been accused of aggravated assault, you are in an even more precarious position.
Assault with a Deadly Weapon
Simple assault is a misdemeanor in Florida, but if you throw a deadly weapon into the picture, or if the assault takes place in the course of committing another serious crime, it’s a whole different ballgame. In these cases, even if no one is hurt, you can be charged with a third degree felony—aggravated assault, which is a very serious crime with mandatory enhanced penalties. A deadly weapon is anything capable of doing serious bodily harm, and can even be a pocket knife or a piece of broken glass used in a threatening manner. Aggravated assault by itself is a third degree felony that can get you sent away for as long as five years in a Florida state prison. If the victim of the aggravated assault was a police officer, firefighter, or EMT, the charge is elevated from a third degree felony to a second degree felony, with a mandatory minimum prison sentence of three years.
Your Future Is at Risk!
With the daunting specter of a felony charge hanging over your head, you are undoubtedly in fear for your future, and rightfully so. Not only are you at a high risk of going to prison, your entire future is in jeopardy. A convicted felon faces many obstacles to living a productive and comfortable life, which goes far beyond the years spent behind bars. You will be stripped of your civil rights, no longer able to vote or hold public office, and you will be forbidden from owning a gun. You will have serious difficulty obtaining any type of quality employment and may find yourself denied housing by both private landlords and public housing projects. If you are not a U.S. citizen, you could be deported. You may hope to turn your life around by pursuing educational opportunities to learn a new trade or earn a degree, only to be denied admission to the program you are seeking or, if you are admitted, to be denied the financial aid you need. Our society does not make it easy for those who have made the mistake of being convicted of a felony to rehabilitate themselves and get their lives back on track.
