At the request of the Melbourne Police Department our office conducted a review of their investigation into allegations of criminal assault, or a verbal threat to commit imminent violence toward another person. The investigation arose out of an incident between State Representative Randy Fine and Palm Bay Deputy Mayor Kenneth Johnson on June 4, 2022.

 

A senior assistant state attorney considered all the available evidence and determined that the statements by Deputy Mayor Johnson amounted to a “conditional threat”, and no prosecutable crimes had taken place. Mr. Archer concurred with the opinion.

 

Under Florida law, a conditional threat occurs when a person offers to commit violence toward another person, but contingent upon a future event that may or may not occur. A conditional threat does not satisfy the requirement of imminence for an assault conviction.