Defining Assault and Battery
- Steven Topazio wrote this February 1, 2024 at 4:39 pm
Defining Assault & Battery
An Assault is an attempted battery or an immediately threatened battery. A battery on the other hand is a harmful or an unpermitted touching of another person.
An assault is committed when a person is placed in fear of an immediate battery and occurs when there is no harmful or unpermitted touching of the person, which is the battery.
M.G.L. c 265 § 13A (a) makes it a misdemeanor for anyone to commit an assault or an assault and battery upon another person. Either crime is punishable by imprisonment for not more than 2 1/2 years in a house of correction or by a fine of not more than $1,000.
Attempted Battery
Under the attempted battery theory, the Commonwealth must prove that a defendant intended to commit a battery and took some overt step toward accomplishing that intended battery and came reasonably close to doing so. An example of an attempted battery would be trying to hit someone with a punch but missing.
The attempted battery branch of assault does not require that the victim was aware of or feared the attempted battery.
Immediately Threatened Battery
The second way to prove an assault is by way of an immediate threatened battery. An immediate threatened battery is the demonstration of an apparent intent to use immediate force on another person and to put them in fear of an imminent battery by some conduct. An example of an immediately threatened battery would be causing someone to be frightened because you ran at them with fists flying.
The threatened battery branch of assault requires that the victim was aware of the defendant’s objectively menacing conduct.
Aggravated Assault
An aggravated form of assault or assault and battery can be committed if it causes serious bodily injury, or if the defendant knows or has reason to know that the victim is pregnant, or if the defendant knows that the victim has an outstanding abuse restraining order against the defendant. G.L. c. 265, § 13A(b) makes aggravated assault or assault and battery a felony punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than 5 years or in the house of correction for not more than 2 1/2 years, or by a fine of not more than $5,000, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
Background photo courtesy of: Quinn Buffing