Talk:Battery (crime)

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I've heard two attorneys discussing assault vs. battery, and IIRC one said that assault without battery was not a crime (per se, e.g., the act could be a crime as intimidation, but not as assault) in their jurisdiction (and the other did not protest).

My dictionary says lawful battery is by definition contradictory, but the assault thing above is so unexpected that confirmation would be worthwhile. If contact sports and surgery are forms of battery, and normally lawful due to their relatively benign intent, the article needs fixing, and the title of the article should instead be Battery (law). --Jerzy(t) 23:36, 2004 Apr 14 (UTC)

Your concerns appear to have been addressed by the article battery (tort). I have tried to expand the article by introducing gradations of the criminal offense, mostly based on the penal code of Georgia (U.S. state). Ellsworth 23:40, 3 Feb 2005 (UTC)

The article only deals with US law. English law is distinctly different from most US jurisdictions, predominantly in its lack of statutory defintions of assault or battery. There are also different definitions in England and Wales (a single jurisdction within the UK). I have corrected the section on the English law of battery with statutory references and the key cases.

[edit] "Bodily secretions"

"Directing bodily secretions" seems quite vague for a legal definition. Would spitting at someone then be considered aggravated battery? --72.75.50.145 19:26, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] US law, common law elements, and distinctions between assault and battery

I reorganized this article slightly and added the common law elements of battery. I created a separate section for U.S. law and, within that section, a subheading for the distinction between assault and battery. Finally, I added the language concerning the common law elements. --G77 (talk) 22:16, 25 January 2008 (UTC)