ASSAULT
At COMMON LAW, an intentional act by one per-
son that creates an apprehension in another of an
imminent harmful or offensive contact.
An assault is carried out by a threat of bod-
ily harm coupled with an apparent, present abil-
ity to cause the harm. It is both a crime and a
TORT and, therefore, may result in either crimi-
nal or civil liability. Generally, the common law
definition is the same in criminal and TORT LAW.
There is, however, an additional CRIMINAL LAW
category of assault consisting of an attempted
but unsuccessful BATTERY.
Statutory definitions of assault in the vari-
ous jurisdictions throughout the United States
are not substantially different from the com-
mon-law definition.
Elements
Generally, the essential elements of assault
consist of an act intended to cause an apprehen-
sion of harmful or offensive contact that causes
apprehension of such contact in the victim.
The act required for an assault must be
overt. Although words alone are insufficient,
they might create an assault when coupled with
some action that indicates the ability to carry
out the threat. A mere threat to harm is not an
assault; however, a threat combined with a
raised fist might be sufficient if it causes a rea-
