Assault and Battery

Assault and battery is the combination of two violent crimes: assault (the threat of violence) and battery (actual physical violence). The main distinction between the two offenses is the existence or nonexistence of touching and/or contact. While contact is an essential element of battery, there must be an absence of contact for assault. If the victim has been actually touched by the person committing the crime, then battery has occurred. If the victim has not actually been touched, but only threatened, then the crime is considered to be assault.

Battery requires no minimum degree of force, nor does it need to be applied directly; i.e. administering poison and transmitting a disease may both be legally considered as battery. Accidents and ordinary negligence are not, nor is reasonable force used in the performance of duty (e.g., by a police officer trying to subdue an offender). Assault and battery are offenses in both criminal and tort law and can give rise to criminal or civil liability. In criminal law, an assault may additionally be defined as any attempt to commit a battery.

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