jaybird wrote:
>
> Perhaps... but not an assault. Standing in front of a car yelling
might
> scare someone, but does not show sufficient intent to commit assault.

I think there are a couple of concepts that are unclear here.

First, assault as I know it is not a *specific intent* crime as you're
attempting to define it here. It is enough that one intend to act in
the way one did, not that one intended to frighten or harm anyone. I
doubt TX law is any different or you'd *never* manage to make any
simple 'bad conduct' charges stick.

Second, the apprehension of fear is sometimes defined by the
*recipient* of the threat (as in defining some kinds of sexual
harassment), not the 'reasonable person' standard. That *may* depend
on the state's statute. IOW, if the person being yelled at is
*actually* in fear as a result, it may not matter what else happens nor
whether you or anyone else *might* be placed in fear. It matters
*whether* actual fear was induced.

Now, I know a short, overweight, balding 50-ish lawyer isn't going to
frighten *you* much, but I daresay that there *are* some physical types
that have raised your hackles in the past, even through a closed car
window. It sounds like that happened here. There was a frightening
character standing there yelling and the driver got away as quickly as
possible as a result of his *fear*. Under those circumstances, a
citation should be issued regardless of your subjective judgment of
whether a conviction can be obtained. That's not *your job*; it's the
prosecutor's.
--
Ol' C.R.