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1. Defendant made an intentional, unlawful offer of corporal injury to plaintiff by force, or force unlawfully directed toward plaintiff’s person;
2. Defendant’s actions created a fear of imminent peril; and
3. Defendant had the apparent present ability to effectuate the attempted action.

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1. Defendant made an intentional, unlawful offer of corporal injury to plaintiff by force, or force unlawfully directed toward plaintiff’s person;
2. Defendant’s actions created a fear of imminent peril; and
3. Defendant had the apparent present ability to effectuate the attempted action.

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FLORIDA STATE COURTS

Supreme Court: Winn & Lovett Grocery Co. v. Archer, 171 So. 214, 217 (Fla. 1936).

First District: Cannon v. Thomas ex rel. Jewett, 133 So.3d 634, 639 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014).

Second District: J.A.F. v. A.J.R., 292 So.3d 467, 469 (Fla. 2d DCA 2020); McDonald v. Ford, 223 So.2d 553, 555 (Fla. 2d DCA 1969).

Third District: Boschetti v. Landon, 660 So. 2d 365, 366 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995).

Fourth District: Sullivan v. Atl. Fed. Sav. & Loan Assoc., 454 So. 2d 52, 54 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984), rev. denied, 461 So. 2d 116 (Fla. 1985).

FLORIDA FEDERAL COURTS

Eleventh Circuit: Wimberly v. Selent, No. 23-13550, 2024 WL 2845476, *4 (11^th Cir. June 5, 2024); Somers v. United States, 15 F.4th 1049, 1052-54 (11th Cir. 2021);  Nassar v. Nassar, No. 20-12882, 2021 WL 1688769, *3 (11th Cir. Apr. 29, 2021); Di Preta v. Taylor, 675 Fed.Appx. 880, 883 (11th Cir. 2017).

Southern District: Smith v. City of Miami, No. 23-24150-CIV, 2025 WL 573874, *5 (S.D. Fla. Feb. 4, 2025); Paulk v. Benson, 2022 WL 1238544, *8 n.5 (S.D. Fla. Apr. 27, 2022); Castro v. Stephonson, No. 20-61351-CV, 2020 WL 6162852, *4 (S.D. Fla. Sept. 29, 2020); Pace v. Lawerance, No. 19-22928-CV, 2020 WL 6064876, *4 (S.D. Fla. Sept. 25, 2020), report and recommendation adopted sub nom. Pace v. Lawrence, No. 19-22928-CV, 2020 WL 6059804 (S.D. Fla. Oct. 14, 2020).

Middle District: Doe v. Baker Cnty., No. 3:23-CV-00609-CRK-LLL, 2025 WL 834340, *11 (M.D. Fla. Mar. 17, 2025); Rothenberg v. Knight Swift Transp., No. 3:21-CV-1213-HLA-LLL, 2023 WL 3511271, *2 (M.D. Fla. Feb. 7, 2023); Summerall v. Sec’y, Fla. Dep’t of Corr., No. 3:19-CV-1099-TJC-LLL, 2022 WL 3282717, *13 (M.D. Fla. Aug. 11, 2022); McGhee v. Sec’y, Fla. Dep’t of Corr., No. 3:18-CV-932-TJC-MCR, 2021 WL 3857655, *2, 8 (M.D. Fla. Aug. 30, 2021).

Northern District: Hutchins v. Sloan, No. 3:19-CV-00445-LC-MAF, 2020 WL 6587281, at *6 (N.D. Fla. Sept. 28, 2020); Colony Ins. Co. v. Barnes, 410 F. Supp. 2d 1137, 1142 (N.D. Fla. 2005).

REFERENCES

Restatement (Second) of Torts § 21 (1965)

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2 Defenses to Claim for Assault

(1) Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.110(d) (pleading affirmative defenses), and other standard defenses. See § 1.

(2) Statute of Limitations: § 95.11(3)(o), Fla. Stat. (four years)

(3) Self defense is an absolute bar to liability for assault and battery when defendant used force reasonably necessary in response to plaintiff’s actions. See Etcher v. Blitch, 381 So. 2d 1119, 1119 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979), cert. denied, 386 So. 2d 636 (Fla. 1980); Kumar v. Patel, 227 So. 3d 557, 559 (Fla. 2017).

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