Assault occurs when one person intentionally causes another person to believe that he is in imminent danger of being the victim of harmful or offensive contact, in other words, the person must fear that he will be the victim of a battery. But no physical contact actually occurs.
What are the elements of an assault case?
A plaintiff must show two elements in an assault case:
Intentional conduct—simple fighting words are not enough
The conduct must place the plaintiff in apprehension of imminent harm
Person A and Person B bump into each other while walking down the street. Person A says, “I’m going to kill you,” and continues walking. Person B becomes afraid for his life. There is no assault, because Person A kept walking, despite making a threat of bodily harm.
Person A and Person B bump into each other while walking down the street. Person A says, “I’m going to kill you,” while pulling out a knife and waiving it at Person B, causing Person B to become afraid for his life and run away. Person A chases Person B for a while and then stops and walks away. By combining a knife and chase with a verbal threat, Person A has committed an assault on Person B.
There are several defenses to allegations of assault, including consent, self-defense or defense of others, protection of property.
Person A breaks into Person B’s house in order to rob it. Gun in hand, Person B confronts Person A, telling Person A, “I’m going to shoot you if you don’t get out of here.” Person B is defending himself and his property and has not committed an assault.
