A person is liable for the intentional tort of “assault” if (1) he/she acts intending to cause a harmful or offensive contact with the person of another or a third person, or an imminent apprehension of such a contact; and, (2) the other person is thereby put in such imminent apprehension.
An act intended to cause apprehension of an imminent harmful or offensive contact, which directly or indirectly causes reasonable apprehension of such contact.
In Bouton v. Allstate Ins. Co., 491 So.2d 56 (La. App. 1986), the court held that the intentional tort of assault was not committed by 13-year-old boy who, on Halloween, rang doorbell while dressed in military fatigues and holding plastic model submachine gun, and by companion who allegedly triggered photographic flash in face of resident, even though resident was being startled by appearance of first boy and armed himself with pistol, with result one boy was shot. The court reached this result by “placing [an] average reasonable man in the very situation which confronted the [resident] and ask of him oracularly if an apprehension of a battery could be reasonably expected to follow from such a situation. We do not believe that a reasonable person acting reasonably would have been apprehensive of a battery when confronted with this situation on Halloween. Therefore, we hold that [the resident] was not the victim of an assault.”
REFERENCE DESK
So v. Shin, 212 Cal. App. 4th 652 (2013):
The essential elements of a cause of action for assault are: (1) defendant acted with intent to cause harmful or offensive contact, or threatened to touch plaintiff in a harmful or offensive manner; (2) plaintiff reasonably believed she was about to be touched in a harmful or offensive manner or it reasonably appeared to plaintiff that defendant was about to carry out the threat; (3) plaintiff did not consent to defendant’s conduct; (4) plaintiff was harmed; and (5) defendant’s conduct was a substantial factor in causing plaintiff’s harm.
Restatement (Second) of Torts § 21. Assault:
(1) An actor is subject to liability to another for assault if
(a) he acts intending to cause a harmful or offensive contact with the person of the other or a third person, or an imminent apprehension of such a contact, and
(b) the other is thereby put in such imminent apprehension.
(2) An action which is not done with the intention stated in Subsection (1,a) does not make the actor liable to the other for an apprehension caused thereby although the act involves an unreasonable risk of causing it and, therefore, would be negligent or reckless if the risk threatened bodily harm.