Is there a big difference between assault and battery?

Is there a big difference between assault and battery?

So, what is an assault? And how is it different, or is it different, than a battery? Technically speaking, there is a difference.

Most of the states (all except Louisiana, to my knowledge) have adopted a “common law” approach to their criminal justice system. Without boring you with too many details, this simply means that many of our basic criminal laws are not formal laws (i.e., published statutes) at all. State legislators did not debate what the meaning of the criminal offenses should be, then vote for the suggested definitions, and then send the bills to the state governors for their signatures. They are merely legal definitions handed down from long ago rulings by English courts from when our country was a collection of British colonies.

For instance, in Virginia, you can find no statutes that declare what legally defines larceny, robbery, arson, or even murder, for that matter. We get these definitions from the English courts of yesteryear. As citizens, we are expected to be aware of these laws and their definitions. There is a popular saying in criminal defense law, “ignorance of the law is no defense.” This is true for those laws which have been enacted by our state governments along with those that are based in common law. Most folks, however, can give good examples of the common law crimes; but few, if any, can provide the legal definitions unless of course they’ve been to law school.

So, what is an assault? And how is it distinct, or is it different, than a battery? Technically speaking, there’s a difference. In reality, many states have equivocated the terms by statute to necessarily mean the very same thing. A battery is defined as the intentional harmful or offensive touching of another. An assault may be defined as both an attempted battery, or the intentional placing of another in fear of harm.

By example, one commits a battery by picking up a baseball bat and intentionally striking another (provided, of course, the victim is not a willing party). However, if that same person is swinging at a baseball and he inadvertently strikes someone else, that is not a battery simply because there was no intent to strike the other individual. One commits an assault by one of two ways. They may intentionally swing the bat at another and miss, which would be an attempted battery; or they might merely hold the bat in a threatening manner towards the other individual placing that individual in fear of being hit.

Another legal concept that is often used against those charged with assault and battery is that of “transferred intent”. Simply stated if one intends to strike one person and inadvertently strikes another, that person’s intent can be transferred to the individual struck. In that situation, one can be charged with assault on the one (attempted battery) and battery on the other.

You cannot be charged with an assault and battery for the same act on the same person. Once the assault (attempted battery) becomes a battery, the assaultive act is merged with the battery offense.

Although both assault and battery are misdemeanor criminal offenses and usually labeled “simple”, you should contact a criminal attorney for assault and battery if you have been charged with either offense. They will be able to chat with you any feasible defenses to the charge, for example your objective during the act.

James Garrett is the founding member of the Virginia Beach law firm of Garrett Law Group, PLC. He practices daily in the courts of Virginia Beach and Norfolk. His firm represents people for criminal and traffic defense, divorce and child custody, and personal injury recovery. If you have any questions regarding these issues, please call for a free consultation at (757) 422-4646, or email at garrettlawgroup@yahoo.com

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Is there a big difference between assault and battery?