Whether you are a concerned citizen, a law student, or someone facing battery charges, understanding the intricacies of battery crime is essential. This comprehensive article
The crimes of assault, assault and battery, and aggravated assault all involve intentional harm inflicted on one person by another. Any crime involving a physical attack—or even the threat of an imminent attack—is usually classified as an assault, a battery, or both.
Many jurisdictions merge assault and battery into the single offense of assault, though some maintain battery as a distinct crime defined as the unlawful application of force resulting in bodily injury or offensive contact.
Battery is one of the most fundamental concepts in criminal law, often categorized as a violent crime. It involves intentional physical contact or harm caused to another person without consent.
In the United States, criminal battery, or simple battery, is the use of force against another, resulting in harmful or offensive contact, including sexual contact. [14]
Learn what a criminal battery is, how it differs from assault and civil torts, and the penalties for simple and aggravated battery charges with FindLaw.
Most states treat battery as a distinct criminal offense, though some fold it into their assault statutes. Because battery can also give rise to a civil lawsuit, a single act of unwanted contact can expose someone to both criminal penalties and a separate claim for money damages.
Battery Defined and Explained with Examples. Battery is a criminal act of making or threatening to make physical contact with another person without consent.