Battery (crime)

Battery is a criminal offense involving the unlawful physical acting upon a threat, distinct from assault which is the act of creating apprehension of such contact.

In the United States, criminal battery, or simply battery, is the use of force against another, resulting in harmful, offensive or sexual contact.^[1] It is a specific common law misdemeanor, although the term is used more generally to refer to any unlawful offensive physical contact with another person, and may be a misdemeanor or a felony, depending on the circumstances. Battery was defined at common law as "any unlawful touching of the person of another by the aggressor himself, or by a substance put in motion by him."^[2] In most cases, battery is now governed by statutes, and its severity is determined by the law of the specific jurisdiction.

Generally

Specific rules regarding battery vary among different jurisdictions, but some elements remain constant across jurisdictions. Battery generally requires that:

1. an offensive touch or contact is made upon the victim, instigated by the actor; and
2. the actor intends or knows that their action will cause the offensive touching.

Under the Model Penal Code and in some jurisdictions, there is battery when the actor acts recklessly without specific intent of causing an offensive contact. Battery is typically classified as either simple or aggravated. Although battery typically occurs in the context of physical altercations, it may also occur under other circumstances, such as in medical cases where a doctor performs a non-consented medical procedure.

Specific countries

Russia

There is an offence which could be (loosely) described as battery in Russia. Article 116^[3] of the Russian Criminal Code provides that battery or similar violent actions which cause pain are an offence.

United States

At common law, simple battery is a misdemeanor. The prosecutor must prove all three elements beyond a reasonable doubt:

1. an unlawful application of force
2. to the person of another
3. resulting in either bodily injury or an offensive touching.

The common-law elements serve as a basic template, but individual jurisdictions may alter them, and they may vary slightly from state to state.

Under modern statutory schemes, battery is often divided into grades that determine the severity of punishment. For example:

• Simple battery may include any form of non-consensual harmful or insulting contact, regardless of the injury caused. Criminal battery requires intent to inflict an injury on another.
• Sexual battery may be defined as non-consensual touching of the intimate parts of another. At least in Florida, "Sexual battery means oral, anal, or vaginal penetration by, or union with, the sexual organ of another or the anal or vaginal penetration of another by any other object": See section 794.011.^[4]
• Family-violence battery may be limited in its scope between persons within a certain degree of relationship: statutes for this offense have been enacted in response to increasing awareness of the problem of domestic violence.
• Aggravated battery generally is seen as a serious offense of felony grade, involving the loss of the victim's limb or some other type of permanent disfigurement. As successor to the common-law crime of mayhem, this is sometimes subsumed in the definition of aggravated assault. In Florida, Aggravated Battery is the intentional commission of great bodily harm.^[5] Conversely, if there is no intent in Florida, then it is felony battery which is a third degree felony as opposed to a second degree felony in which aggravated battery is.

Kansas

In the state of Kansas battery is defined as follows:^[6]

Battery.

(a) Battery is:

(1) Intentionally or recklessly causing bodily harm to another person; or

(2) intentionally causing physical contact with another person when done in a rude, insulting or angry manner.

Louisiana

The law on battery in Louisiana reads:^[7]

§33. Battery defined

Battery is the intentional use of force or violence upon the person of another; or the intentional administration of a poison or other noxious liquid or substance to another.

Canada

Battery is not defined in the Canadian Criminal Code. Instead, the Code has an offense of assault, and assault causing bodily harm.

United Kingdom

England and Wales

Battery is an offence under the law of England and Wales.

Battery involves unlawfully touching another person (this does not include everyday knocks and jolts to which people silently consent as the result of crowds). No physical injury is necessary. Battery is distinguished from the offence of common assault, where the victim is caused to apprehend the immediate commission of a battery.

The terms "battery" and "beat" are not normally used (if at all) in statutory provisions creating offences of aggravated assault. A former exception to this was section 43 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861 (aggravated assault or battery on a female or a boy under 14). The term "assault" in such provisions generally includes battery.

There is no offence called "sexual battery", but the offence of sexual assault involves the non-consensual sexual touching of another.^[8]

There is no separate offence relating to incidents of domestic violence, except in the case of death, where the offence of causing or allowing the death of a child or a vulnerable adult may have been committed (s. 5 Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004).

Under English law, a battery has only been committed if the correct mens rea (fault element) can be proven. In the case of battery, the mens rea of the offence is intention or recklessness (see R v. Venna [1976] QB 421). A person acts intentionally in terms of a result when his purpose is to cause it and he may be held to act intentionally if he foresees that the result is a virtually certain consequence of his action and he nonetheless acts (see R v. Woollin [1998] 4 All ER 103; although this decision specifically applies to the law of murder, it is generally accepted that this definition of intent applies throughout the criminal law). A person acts recklessly in terms of a result when he is aware of the risk that the result will occur if he acts and he does so act where no reasonable person would (see R v. Cunningham [1957] 2 QB 396).

Whether it is a statutory offence

In DPP v. Taylor, DPP v. Little [1992] 1 QB 645, 95 Cr App R 28, it was held that battery is a statutory offence, contrary to section 39 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988. This decision was criticised^[9][10][11] and in Haystead v. DPP 164 JP 396, DC,^[12] the Divisional court expressed the obiter opinion that battery remains a common law offence.

Therefore, whilst it may be a better view that battery and assault have statutory penalties, rather than being statutory offences, it is still the case that until review by a higher court, DPP v Little is the preferred authority.^[13]

Mode of trial and sentence

In England and Wales, it is a summary offence.^[14] However, where section 40 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 applies, it can be an additional charge on an indictment. It is usually tried summarily.

However, if it is tried, it is punishable with imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or both.^[14]

See Crown Prosecution Service Sentencing Manual for case law on sentencing (despite the title of the page, the guidance applies to battery as well as common assault). Relevant cases are:

• R v. Nottingham Crown Court ex parte Director of Public Prosections [1996] 1 Cr App R (S) 283
• R v. Dunn [2003] 2 Cr App R (S) 90

Scotland

There is no distinct offence of battery in Scotland. The offence of assault includes acts that could be described as battery.

Jurisdictional differences

In some jurisdictions, battery has recently been constructed to include directing bodily secretions (i.e., spitting) at another person without his or her permission. Some of those jurisdictions automatically elevate such a battery to the charge of aggravated battery. In some jurisdictions, the charge of criminal battery also requires evidence of a mental state (mens rea). The terminology used to refer to a particular offense can also vary by jurisdiction. Some jurisdictions, such as New York, refer to what, under the common law, would be battery as assault, and then use another term for the crime that would have been assault, such as menacing.

Distinction between battery and assault

The overt behavior of an assault might be Person A advancing upon Person B by chasing after him and swinging a fist toward his head. The overt behavior of battery might be A actually striking B.

Battery requires (1) a volitional act that (2) results in a harmful or offensive contact with another person and (3) is committed for the purpose of causing a harmful or offensive contact or under circumstances that render such contact substantially certain to occur or with a reckless disregard as to whether such contact will result. Assault is an attempted battery or the act of intentionally placing a person in apprehension of a harmful or offensive contact with his or her person.

In some places, assault is the threat of violence against another while aggravated assault is the threat with the clear and present ability and willingness to carry it out. Likewise, battery is undesired touching of another, while aggravated battery is touching of another with or without a tool or weapon with attempt to harm or restrain.

See also

• Assault or common assault
• Assault (tort)
• Battery (tort)
• Non-fatal offences against the person in English law
• Right of self-defense

References

English criminal law Classes of crimes Common law Indictable Either way Summary Regulatory Lesser included Elements of crimes Actus reus Causation Mens rea Intention (criminal law) Intention in English law Recklessness Criminal negligence Corporate / Vicarious / Strict liability Omissions Concurrence Ignorantia juris non excusat Inchoate offences Encouraging or assisting crime Conspiracy Accessory Attempt Common purpose Defences Self-defence Duress Necessity Marital coercion Consent Insanity Diminished responsibility Intoxication Category:Criminal defences Offences against the person Homicide (Murder / Manslaughter / Corporate manslaughter / Infanticide) Child destruction Wounding or causing grievous bodily harm Assault occasioning actual bodily harm Common assault Battery Kidnapping False imprisonment Harassment Offences against the Person Act 1861 Sexual offences Rape Sexual assault Sexual Offences Act 2003 Public order offences Riot Violent disorder Affray Fear or provocation of violence Intentional harassment, alarm or distress Harassment, alarm or distress Public Order Act 1986 Nuisance Public nuisance Offences against property Dishonesty Burglary Robbery Theft Taken Without Owner's Consent (TWOC) Deception Handling stolen goods Blackmail Cybercrime Theft Act 1968 Theft Act 1978 Fraud Act 2006 Criminal damage Conspiracy to defraud Webcam blackmail Forgery, personation and cheating Forgery Cheating the public revenue Offences against justice Bribery Perjury Perverting the course of justice Other common law areas Contract Tort Property Wills Trusts and estates Evidence Criminal procedure History LEW portal CJ portal