Vero Beach, Florida gentleman Robert Briley was charged with Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon on December 16, 2012 after allegedly swinging a baseball bat at his best friend. It’s reported that Briley continuously requested his wife and friend over the course of the day to engage in a sexual liaison known as a threesome. Specifically, it is noted that Briley was interested in watching his wife perform oral sex on his friend and also wanted his friend to touch Mrs. Briley’s undercarriage. After being denied repeatedly by his friend, Briley continued in his quest until his friend agreed to take Briley’s wife privately into the bedroom for a little one on one. Evidently this crossed the line, albeit a blurry one, resulting with Briley swinging his bat in the general direction of his friend’s face, thereby prompting police intervention. Ultimately the police showed up, interviewed the involved parties, and chose to take Briley to jail for Aggravated Assault. When interviewed, Mrs. Briley told police that Briley and friend had been drinking all day prior to the incident. Surprise, surprise. Briley admitted to the drinking but denied using his bat.
If the facts of this odd, yet awesome scenario are to be believed, Mr. Briley is facing a pretty serious charge. Florida Statute 784.021 governs the applicable charge of Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon. Defined, an Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon 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 all while using an item that can be classified as a deadly weapon. Depending on which “bat” this report is referring to will determine whether an Aggravated Assault charge will stick. Well maybe… Assuming Briley had a baseball bat and went after one or more of remaining ménage a trois partiers while swinging, there could most definitely be an Aggravated Assault charge levied. It seems he had an item that would satisfy the “deadly weapon” element to the charge and generally a drunken, enraged man wielding such bat would qualify him for a general assault charge. Add those together and you have the recipe for Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon.
Addressing this situation from the standpoint of a Tampa criminal lawyer, I would say despite the actions fitting the charge, the chances of the charges sticking could be minimal. Similar to a domestic battery charge, when the alleged victim is a friend and the situation is the fallout from a drunken bender, victims tend to refuse to cooperate with authorities. Friends are forgiven, propositions and actions are forgotten. If there are no police witnesses and Mrs. Briley and friend are disinterested in Court proceedings, in all likelihood this prosecutor will have his or her work cut out for them in earning a conviction. The Tampa criminal attorneys at my firm have dealt with similar situations as this and often if you ride the storm out for a bit your lawyer can get rid of the charges.
At the end of the day Mr. Briley may likely be ok with his criminal case. He may want to apologize to the Mrs. and friend.
Jason Mayberry is a Federal and State criminal lawyer with offices in Tampa and Clearwater. If you’ve been charged with a crime contact our Tampa criminal lawyers at 813-444-7435.