Assault and Battery Overview, Research Paper Example

Assault is broadly defined as an attempt to threaten or injure another person, while battery is broadly defined as making physical contact with the individual with an intent to harm. Although these two crimes appear to be similar, committing a crime of assault only requires that the intention of harm is present. Occasionally, assault is described as attempted battery. Attempted battery requires that the victim express reasonable fear that harm will befall him or her. Spoken words are often not enough alone to constitute assault; typically, verbal threats must be accommodated by an attempt of force. Intent of action is also an important requirement for assault (FindLaw, 2015). Battery requires that there be intentional touching, no consent from the victim, and the touching must be offensive or harmful in some manner. Intent to cause harm to the victim is not relevant in this situation, although there must be demonstrated proof that the attacker desired to make contact with the victim for the crime to constitute as battery. Significant harm does not need to befall the victim for the crime to be considered battery; only the intent for offensive contact is needed.

An example of assault can occur in a situation in which two individuals get into a fight outside of a bar. If an individual swings to punch the second individual and misses, this situation is still considered to be assault because the puncher intended to make contact in a violent manner. However, if the punch successfully landed and hit the person, this would be considered battery because violent contact was made. In situation in which a similar violent situation is diffused before harm could befall either individual, the intent to harm would fall under the category of assault. However, if contact was made prior to the dissolution of the fight, the crime would be considered battery.

The man’s actions were considered to be battery, not assault. This man made contact with A, indicating intentional touching in a manner that is harmful and offensive. Furthermore, there was no consent from A. The jurisdiction should punish the man’s actions as battery because his actions do not constitute as assault. Even though there was clear intent, he made contact with A, meant to do her harm, and succeeded in this intent. Therefore, while there are variations of the situation that would have qualified this scenario as assault, it is more clearly defined as battery. If the man had not successfully made contact with A, this situation would have been considered assault instead of battery. While A would not have been harmed, she would have expressed reasonable fear for her life and would have similarly tried to escape. However, since he made contact in reality, the crime constitutes as battery.

False imprisonment is defined as both a felony and a tort. Essentially, this means that an individual is held without giving prior consent or valid justification (Cornell University Law School, 2015). Typically, this crime involves stopping an individual using physical force, although it can also involve a verbal threat. While this law is typically relevant in the context of law enforcement power, it can also apply to private parties. Since this law can pertain to private individuals as well as law enforcement bodies, the court would be able to convict the attacker as a violator of the crime of false imprisonment. Since A is being held against her will and has not been provided with valid justification, the law could reasonably act against A’s attacker by claiming that he has violated this statute.

Kidnapping is similar to the crime of false imprisonment, although it requires that the victim is taken to another location or concealed (Cornell University Law School, 2015). In some cases, kidnapping accommodated by physical injury elevates the severity of the crime. All crimes in which it is not reasonable for the victim to provide consent are considered to be kidnapping (Lewis, 2003). While both kidnapping and the crime of false imprisonment are heinous, kidnapping is more detrimental because it is more challenging to determine the location of the victim. Therefore, not only is the individual being kept against his or her will, it is not easy for law enforcement to discover the location of the individual to bring him or her to safety. This is problematic because a large degree of physical harm can befall the individual during this period of time.

It does not appear that A’s action would require the attacker to defend himself. Given the facts of the situation, it appears that A’s attacker has enough physical strength to drag her in an alley way. Therefore, it does not appear that the slap that A dealt would have caused the attacker much damage. In fact, it appears that the slap was done in an attempt to defend herself or to warn the attacker that she will strike back if he intends to do her harm. Therefore, it is reasonable that the slap was done for defense purposes. In this situation, A’s attacker has committed battery for dragging her into the alley against her will. It is reasonable to consider A’s response as assault because she intended to do the attacker harm, but likely did not deal the level of damage that she would have liked. In this situation, it is challenging to determine what A’s attacker would do if she tried to leave the alley way. Since A is not capable of hurting this individual to the same extent that he would, it is A that needs to be concerned about defending herself, not the attacker.

It is important for A to remain calm in this situation and try to talk the attacker out of committing a physical attack against her. She could then report this situation to the police station if she feels that she is in a reasonable amount of danger. Based on the intended battery, she could then file a restraining order against the attacker if she feels that this is necessary. However, it would be important to understand how this event concludes to be certain who is at fault in this situation. It is possible that A provoked the situation based on something she had said earlier, which would make her at fault. Unfortunately, without knowing the specifics of the situation, it is impossible to determine whether A or her attacker had a greater need to defend themselves. However, it is important for everyone to understand the implications of assault, battery, the crime of false imprisonment, and kidnapping so that they do not accidentally engage in actions that they will regret. Simple arguments can evolve into legal disasters.

References

Cornell University Law School. (2015). False Imprisonment. Retrieved from https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/false_imprisonment

Cornell University Law School. (2015). Kidnapping. Retrieved from https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/kidnapping

FindLaw. (2015). Assault and Battery Overview. Retrieved from http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-charges/assault-and-battery-overview.html

Lewis, Damien; Mende Nazer. (2003). Slave: My True Story. New York: PublicAffairs