Assault and Battery
Assault is a crime of violence against another person. In the United States, assault may refer only to the threat of violence caused by an immediate show of force. Common assaults or simple assaults that do not involve any aggravation such as use of a deadly weapon are distinguished from aggravated assaults in some jurisdictions. Assault is often defined to include not only violence, but any physical contact with another person without their consent. In common law jurisdictions, including England and Wales and the United States, battery is the crime that represents the unlawful physical contact, though this distinction does not exist in all jurisdictions. Exceptions exist to cover unsolicited physical contact which amount to normal social behavior known as de minimis harm.
In most jurisdictions, the intention to cause grievous bodily harm (or its equivalent) may amount to the mental requirement to prefer a charge of murder in circumstances where the harm inflicted upon the victim proves fatal.[3]
Aggravated assault
Aggravated assault is, in some jurisdictions, a stronger form of assault, usually using a deadly weapon.[4] A person has committed an aggravated assault when that person:
* attempts to cause serious bodily injury to another person
* causes such injury purposely, knowingly, or recklessly in circumstances where the person has exhibited indifference to human life
* attempts or causes bodily injury to another person with a deadly weapon.
Aggravated assault is usually differentiated from simple assault by the offender's intent (i.e., to murder, to rape etc.), the extent of the injury to the victim, or the use of a deadly weapon, although legal definitions vary between jurisdictions. Sentences for aggravated assault are generally more severe, reflecting the greater degree of harm or malice intended by the perpetrator. In many cases, the perpetrator is sentenced to life in prison, or consecutive life terms depending on how many counts of assault he or she is convicted of. There have been a few rare cases where a perpetrator who assaults someone with a deadly weapon receives the death penalty depending on how much bodily harm has been inflicted onto the victim. The average sentence for aggravated assault in the United States ranges between 30 and 90 years in prison per count/charge.
American common law has defined assault as an attempt to commit a battery.
Assault is typically treated as a misdemeanor and not as a felony (unless it involves a law enforcement officer). The more serious crime of aggravated assault is treated as a felony.
Four elements were required at common law:
1. The apparent, present ability to carry out;
2. An unlawful attempt;
3. To commit a violent injury;
4. Upon another.
Simple assault can be distinguished without the intent of injury upon another person. Simple assault can consist simply of the violation of one's personal space or touching in a way the victim deemed inappropriate. (i.e. one's personal space consists of arm's reach.)
As the criminal law evolved, element one was weakened in most jurisdictions so that a reasonable fear of bodily injury would suffice. These four elements were eventually codified in most states.
Modern American statutes define assault as:
1. an attempt to cause or purposely, knowingly, or recklessly causing bodily injury to another; or,
2. negligently causing bodily injury to another with a deadly weapon.
Some states also define assault as an attempt to menace (or actual menacing) by placing another person in fear of imminent serious bodily injury.
Battery
* Simple battery may include any form of non-consensual harmful or insulting contact, regardless of the injury caused. Criminal battery requires an intent to inflict an injury on another, as distinguished from a tortious battery.
* Sexual battery may be defined as non-consensual touching of the intimate parts of another.
* Family-violence battery may be limited in its scope between persons within a certain degree of relationship: statutes for this offense have been enacted in response to increasing awareness of the problem of domestic violence.
* Aggravated battery generally is seen as a serious offense of felony grade, involving the loss of the victim's limb or some other type of permanent disfigurement. As successor to the common-law crime of mayhem, this is sometimes subsumed in the definition of aggravated assault.
In some jurisdictions, battery recently has been constructed to include directing bodily secretions at another person without his or her permission. In some jurisdictions this automatically is considered aggravated battery.
In some jurisdictions, the charge of criminal battery also requires evidence of a mental state.
A battery (Penal Code, sec. 243) is, essentially, the willful use of force or violence upon another. This means, any physical contact with another person, to which that other person has not consented. An assault (Penal Code, sec. 240) is basically an attempt at a battery.
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