I have been offline for a couple of days because I just took the final exam for my last class to get (yet another) Bachelor’s Degree. This time, it was a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. When I went to campus to take those exams, I carried a can of pepper spray and an expandable baton on my person and a firearm locked in my truck. Why? Because of the behavior in the video that JKB over at GFZ posted. Watch the video on the right:
As I posted in the comments there, Florida law says:
A person is justified in using or threatening to use force, except deadly force, against another when and to the extent that the person reasonably believes that such conduct is necessary to defend himself or herself or another against the other’s imminent use of unlawful force. A person who uses or threatens to use force in accordance with this subsection does not have a duty to retreat before using or threatening to use such force.
Assault doesn’t include a physical touch:
An “assault” is an intentional, unlawful threat by word or act to do violence to the person of another, coupled with an apparent ability to do so, and doing some act which creates a well-founded fear in such other person that such violence is imminent.
What is battery? While assault is defined as the threat to cause physical bodily harm, battery is the actual act of doing so. it is the crime of battery if you touch another person against his or her will or deliberately cause an injury to another person, however temporary or minor that injury may be. From the state statute:
The offense of battery occurs when a person:
1. Actually and intentionally touches or strikes another person against the will of the other; or
2. Intentionally causes bodily harm to another person.
Under section 784.03 of the Florida Statutes, indirect contact, such as throwing an object, can constitute battery if the indirect contact was intentionally caused by the accused and was against the other person’s will. Even spitting can constitute a battery. Mohansingh v. State, 824 So.2d 1053 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002) For that reason, I believe that shining a strobe in someone’s eye is either battery (the strobe is causing pain and disorientation), or assault (shining the light is intended to temporarily blind the victim and make it impossible for that victim to detect or defend against an attack).
Note that the law requires intent to touch, strike, or cause injury. That is referred to as mens rea.
All the law requires for nonlethal self defense is that you be in a place where you lawfully can be, and are the recipient of someone else’s imminent delivery of unlawful force. So:
- Are you where you can lawfully be? Yes. I am a student here to take an exam.
- Is the other person threatening to imminently use, or are they using unlawful force?
- Would a reasonable person believe that the attacker intended to touch, strike, or injure you in any way?
- Would a reasonable person believe that the person was about to (or was already attempting to) carry out that intent?
This meets the absolute lowest threshold for self defense. The real issue here is that you probably will get arrested, and it will cost you some money to defend yourself in court. Make sure that you have good CCW insurance, so it will pay for your legal defense.
I want you to note that there are perhaps half a dozen people that are assaulting him. That means the attackers will likely gang up on you, and that will likely mean that someone will be shot by the end of the fight.
Think about where this is headed.
