What Are Assault And Battery Charges
Assault: The law defines an assault charge as an action which is taken with the intention of causing another person to fear for their life. Therefore, if somebody makes a move towards you as if you hit you then you have been assaulted. In this way, assault is first and foremost about the fear that somebodys actions generate.
Battery: Battery charges are often combined with assault charges but they are about the physical harm that is done to a person. If somebody made a move towards you as if to hit you but didnt then it wouldnt be battery, it would be an assault. But if that same person followed through on their intention and struck you, then the physical nature of the attack makes it a battery. If there is physical harm involved in an assault then it will qualify as assault and battery.
Improve Your Chances Of Compensation In Court
For these reasons, its crucial that you take the following actions after an assault or battery to improve your chances of succeeding in court against your attacker.
- Collect Evidence. Photograph any physical injuries you may have, torn clothing, destroyed property, etc., that may help show the extent of the attack.
Try to gather any videos of the incident that may have been recorded by a witness on their phone, for instance, and search the area for any cameras you may use to obtain surveillance video of the attack.
- Request for the contact info of anybody who may have witnessed any part of the assault or battery occurrence, including the events leading up to it, the attack, and the aftermath.
- Seek Medical Attention. Its crucial to receive treatment right away after a battery. If you dont, your attacker can claim that since you didnt go to the hospital, you werent hurt. The assailant may also claim that your injuries were faked to obtain compensation if you wait to get treated.
You have better grounds for your assault and battery claim if you can show that you sought care immediately and that your injuries were examined.
- File a Police Report and assist with any subsequent investigation. When reporting the attack, give the police whatever evidence you have gathered and ask your witnesses if they would be prepared to speak with them.
- Find out what legal action you can take against your attacker by speaking with a lawyer.
You Will Need Personalized Legal Advice
Youve been reading a basic introduction to the assault and battery laws in Virginia, but every case and every defendant is unique, so if you are charged with one of these crimes, you will require sound, personalized guidance and legal advice.
An effective defense strategy is essential, but the success of a defense strategy in an assault or battery case also requires the experience and legal knowledge of a talented Virginia defense attorney who will fight aggressively for the truth and for justice on a defendants behalf.
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Assault How Many Years In Jail
The maximum prison sentence for common assault and battery in the UK is 6 months and/or a £5,000 fine.
For ABH the maximum prison sentence is 5 years.
For section 20 GBH the maximum prison sentence is 7 years.
For section 18 GBH with intent, the maximum prison sentence is life imprisonment.
Although it is worth noting that the above are the maximum sentence and not what is given in every case. With well-presented mitigation a lesser sentence can often be achieved.
Defenses Against Assault And Battery Charges
Facing charges of assault and battery can be upsetting and life-changing. It is also a situation that is easy for people to inadvertently end up in after drinking too much alcohol or being in the wrong social situation at the wrong time. However, a Los Angeles criminal defense lawyer can help you fight these charges with a variety of possible defenses.
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Whats The Difference Between Assault & Battery
- Criminal Defense
Among the charges that fall under the heading of criminal defense, perhaps no two charges are more confusing than assault and battery. If someone strikes you, linguistically speaking you could say they assaulted you or that they battered you and it means the same thing. But this isnt the case when it comes to the law.
Despite being similar, the law clearly defines these assault and battery charges in different ways. It is important to understand this difference because pressing an assault charge and pressing a battery charge are both serious business but pressing the wrong one can eat up a lot of time without producing the results youve desired. Lets take a look at that difference now.
Simple Vs Aggravated Assault
Simple Assault is when your acts cause apprehension to physical harm to the victim. The threat may either cause minimal injuries or not. Simple Assault carries misdemeanor penalties. Alternatively, aggravated Assault involves Assault by inflicting severe bodily injuriesfor example, an assault where the perpetrator uses caustic chemicals to commit the crime.
In the aggravated Assault, the prosecutor must prove your intent to inflict significant bodily injuries. The law considers aggravated Assault a misdemeanor. When charged with a felony, the crime counts as a strike under the California three strikes laws.
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Different Types Of Battery And Assault
You face a misdemeanor or felony charge for committing battery and assault based on the threat’s severity and the facts surrounding your case. Federal law considers the crime of assault a felony. A felony charge attracts a jail term of ten years, while a misdemeanor charge attracts a 12-month jail term. The punishment for assault varies based on the nature of the crime and the defendant’s criminal history.
When an assault crime does not involve using a firearm or weapon, the court considers it a misdemeanor. However, the penalties escalate when you use a gun to commit a crime. For example, assault in the first degree involving firearm use and severe injuries can attract long jail terms and heavy fines.
The prosecutor also tries to discover whether the alleged victim is a vulnerable member of the community. Vulnerable members of the community include the elderly, expectant mothers, minors, and people living with disabilities. When any of these groups of people are involved in an assault case, the fines are huge. The following are the common forms of assault:
Assault & Battery Examples
There are many different examples of assaults and batteries that I either studied in law school, prosecuted, or litigated as a criminal defense attorney over the past 15 years.
A common example is when two people get into a fight. As long as the two people are not household members under the statute , then a fight can be an example of assault and battery. Road rage is another example, depending on the severity of the injuries of the victim.
Here is another example: if someone is working at a nursing home facility, and they throw something at a patient at the facility, this could be Assault and Battery however, if this was simply an accident and the person charged with assault and battery did not have the requisite intent to harm the victim, the state may have a harder case to prove.
Some other examples of assault and battery could be if someone knocks a phone out of the victims hand on purpose. If an aunt hits their niece without permission. Assault and Battery could include pistol whipping someone, pointing a gun at someone, directly or indirectly threatening someone . The list goes on of the different types of assault and battery.
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Defining Assault In Massachusetts
Assault is a distinct and separate crime from that of assault and battery, and carries different penalties if a defendant is convicted of the crime as such. When a person commits an act of assault, they demonstrate an intent to use force against another person, or attempt to use force to cause injury against another. However, an act of assault does not involve the person actually causing physical injury to another. In fact, a defendant need not even make physical contact with another party in order for assault to occur assault is merely the threat of physical contact.
Assault And Battery Punishments
Assault and battery punishments vary greatly, depending on the laws of the jurisdiction and the circumstances surrounding the crime. Generally, assault and battery punishments range from fines and community service, to imprisonment of one year or more. While first time offenders may receive more leniency, repeat offenders often face stiffer penalties for similar crimes.
Commonly, felony assault charges result in prison terms of 5 to 25 years. Misdemeanor assault and battery charges may result in probation, a fine, community service, or imprisonment in the county jail for up to one year.
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Example Of Assault And Battery
Throwing a rock at someone for the purpose of hitting him is battery if the rock in fact strikes the person and is an assault if the rock misses. The fact that the person may have been unaware that the rock had been thrown at him is irrelevant under this definition of assault.
Some jurisdictions have incorporated the definition of civil assault into the definition of the crime making it a criminal assault to intentionally place another person in “fear” of a harmful or offensive contact. “Fear” means merely apprehension – awareness rather than any emotional state.
The Offences Of Common Assault And Battery
Technically, the offences of assault and battery are separate summary offences. An assault is committed when the defendant intentionally or recklessly causes another to apprehend immediate and unlawful violence and battery is committed when a defendant intentionally or recklessly inflicts unlawful force. Although battery may follow an assault that is not always the case.
Common assault and battery can only be tried in the magistrates court, unless the attack is racially motivated, in which cases the offences can be tried in the magistrates court or Crown Court by virtue of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 . See Racially or religiously aggravated assault below.
In proceedings for common assault or battery, where the alleged behaviour of the accused amounts to domestic violence, and the complainant has:
made a witness statement with a view to its possible admission as evidence in the proceedings, and provided the statement to a police constable, or a person authorised by a police constable to receive the statement, or
been interviewed by a police constable, or a person authorised by a police constable to interview the complainant, and a video recording of the interview has been made with a view to its possible admission as the complainants evidence in chief in the proceedings
Proceedings may be commenced any time within two years from the
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Will An Assault Charge Affect Me
If convicted, an assault charge will stay on your record for life although it will become spent after a certain length of time, depending on what sentence you are given. This is likely to affect your employability since a basic DBS check will show any unspent convictions. An advance DBS check may even show spent convictions where it is considered to be a relevant conviction.
Attempted Battery Assault Act
The criminal act element required for attempted battery assault is an act that attempts to make physical contact with the victim but falls short for some reason. This could be a thrown object that never hits its target, a gunshot that misses, or a punch that doesnt connect. In some states, the defendant must have the present ability to cause harmful or offensive physical contact, even though the contact never takes place . The present ability requirement is simply an extension of the rule that attempt crimes must progress beyond mere preparation. In the majority of jurisdictions, the criminal act element is measured by the Model Penal Codes substantial steps test described in detail in Chapter 7 Parties to Crime . To summarize, the substantial steps test requires the defendant to take substantial steps toward completion of the battery, and the defendants actions must be strongly corroborative of the defendants criminal purpose .
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What Are The Different Types Of Assault
There are several forms that an assault charge can take, though each has its own particular elements that need to be present. In Colorado there are:
Third-Degree Assault: A third-degree assault is a class 1 misdemeanor and is unique among the various assault charges because it isnt a felony. It also tends not to have any battery involved as third-degree assaults are for minor altercations where there was no real physical harm, such as when somebody pushes another person.
Second-Degree Assault: Assault of the second degree most often occurs when a deadly weapon is introduced into the equation. This is a felony charge and it almost always involves causing some form of harm, and therefore battery.
First-Degree Assault: First-degree assault is a very serious charge. It occurs when you commit or intend to commit serious bodily injury to another person. If the victim is disfigured because of the act or have a limb or organ destroyed, it falls under first-degree assault. If there is a high risk of death from the assault, it also falls under first-degree.
Vehicular Assault: This is an assault in which a vehicle is used as a weapon. This can be an intentional act, though an intentional assault with a vehicle is often charged as a first-degree assault because of the high risk of death associated with being struck by a vehicle. But if you are under the effects of drugs or alcohol and strike an individual then this also can be charged as vehicular assault.
Aggravated Assault And Battery In Florida
According to the Florida Statute § 784.021, an assault can be classified as aggravated if the offense was committed with a deadly weapon without the intent to kill or with an intent to commit a felony.
Aggravated assaults can be charged as third-degree felonies and they might result in the following penalties:
An aggravated battery occurs when:
- A deadly weapon was used.
- The victim was pregnant.
- The aggressor intentionally caused great bodily harm, permanent disability or disfigurement.
These types of offenses are charged as second-degree felonies and can be punishable by up to 15 years of prison and a maximum fine of $10,000.
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What Is The Definition Of Assault And Battery
Historically, battery and assault were considered separate crimes, with battery requiring that the aggressor physically strike or offensively touch the victim. In that way, a battery was a completed assault. Many modern statutes dont bother to distinguish between the two crimes, as evidenced by the fact that the phrase assault and battery has become as common as salt and pepper. These days, statutes often refer to crimes of actual physical violence as assaults.
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Threatened Battery Assault Act
The criminal act element required for threatened battery assault is conduct that causes the victim apprehension of immediate harmful or offensive physical contact. In general, words are not enough to constitute the criminal act element required for threatened battery assault . The words must be accompanied by threatening gestures. In addition, a threat of future harm or a conditional threat is not sufficient . The physical contact threatened must be unequivocal and immediate. Some jurisdictions still require present ability for threatened battery assault. In others, only apparent ability is necessary this means the victim must reasonably believe that the defendant can effectuate the physical contact .
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Example Of Aggravated Assault
Sarah walks into a bar with her friends for a girls night out, and sees her boyfriend dancing suggestively with another woman. Enraged, Sarah runs over, screaming at her boyfriend, and shoves the woman, who shoves back. Sarah grabs the womans hair and drags her half way across the room, where the two start swinging fists at one another, until the bouncer gets them separated. In her rage, Sarah didnt even notice that the woman is pregnant, but this means she is in a protected class in most jurisdictions. When the police arrive, Sarah, who started the fight, is arrested and charged with aggravated assault. Sarah has committed a felony.
What Does Assault Mean
An assault is committed when a person intentionally or recklessly causes someone to expect that unlawful force is about to be inflicted upon them. This means that inciting fear, including where someone might pretend to act out a more serious offence, can be considered assault, even if there was no contact between the defendant and the victim can be considered assault.
Common assault is dealt with under s.39 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988.
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Example Of Threatened Battery Assault Intent
Review the example in Section 10 Example of Threatened Battery Assault Act. Change the example so that the gun that Diana grabs is Dianas gun, and it is unloaded. Diana is aware that the gun is unloaded, but Dan is not. In this example, Diana probably has the intent required for threatened battery assault. Dianas act of pointing the gun at Dan and cocking it, after making a verbal threat, indicates that she has the specific intent or purposely to cause apprehension in Dan of imminent harmful physical contact. If Diana is in a state that only requires apparent ability to effectuate the contact, Diana has committed the criminal act supported by criminal intent for threatened battery assault. Note that Diana does not have the proper criminal intent for attempted battery assault if the gun is unloaded. This is because the intent required for attempted battery assault is the intent to cause harmful or offensive contact, which Diana clearly cannot intend to do with an unloaded gun.