Are you an Assault and Battery Victim? - LegalMatch: Criminal Law

There exists some confusion as what actually constitutes assault and battery, as even the exact meanings of these two words are often not clear. Any physical contact with another person, to which that other person has not consented, is considered battery. Now bumping into another person in the subway could fall into that definition, so there is also an element of intent that goes along with the the uninvited physical contact.

Therefore assault is an attempt at battery. As they say the proof is in the pudding, and proving that you were battered is the crux of of any charge for assault and battery. And that comes back around to 'intent' - which means that the person that shoved you on the subway platform intended to do so. There is a caveat here, as you might be the victim of some other intention, such as you were knocked down subway stairs because two other parties were fighting and one of them was punched and fall onto to you. In this case the puncher might be charged with two counts, one of assault, for the intentional blow and one of battery for harm inflicted to you. There are two ways assault and battery can be dealt with in the courts - to paraphrase an excellent LegalMatch.com article about assault and battery:

Criminal Assault and Battery: a person is prosecuted by the district attorney's office for committing an assault and battery against a victim. If you are facing criminal charges, you are in criminal court and need a savvy criminal defense lawyer.

Civil Assault and Battery: involves the victim suing the person who committed the assault and battery against them to recover damages for their injuries. If you want to sue someone for your assault and battery injuries, or are being sued by the victim for money, you are in civil court and need an experienced personal injury lawyer.

Author: Chas Blackford

Source: http://legalmatch.typepad.com/criminallaw/2013/05/are-you-an-assault-and-battery-victim.html

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