Assault And Battery And Intentional Acts: They’re Not Just Crimes

When we think of personal injury cases, we often think of accidents. That makes sense—after all negligence cases, which include malpractice or elderly neglect are often accidents. They may be inexcusable, and perhaps they could have been avoided with the use of due care, but nobody intended to hurt anybody.

But there are situations where someone does act intentionally, and ends up hurting someone. In the criminal law sense, these are often charged and prosecuted, as assault and battery. But just because something is a crime, doesn’t mean that a victim can’t also sue for injuries or damages caused by those actions.

Understanding Assault and Battery

Assault and battery is the most common intentional, purposeful act that causes injury to someone.

While the terms assault and battery are used interchangeably, they actually are two different things, under most state laws.

Assault is verbal; it is a threat made by someone that puts a reasonable fear of bodily harm into someone else. The person making the threat, must have the current ability to carry out and complete the threat, thus warranting the fear experienced by the victim.

Battery is the actual touching—the punch or the attack or some other physical touching that is unwanted and which is done intentionally with the intent to cause harm.

The terms assault and battery are often used together because many times someone both threatens, and attacks. For example, someone who says “I’m going to knock you out” and then punches you, has both verbally, and physically, made a threat and touched you intentionally.

The Outcome of the Criminal Case

In assault and battery cases, the police should always be called, and the state will often press charges. What’s important for a victim to know, is that whatever the state does, does not impact your ability to bring a personal injury lawsuit.

In criminal court, a Defendant charged with an assault and battery, will often plead out to lesser charges, or the state may drop charges for lack of evidence. But that doesn’t stop a victim from suing in the civil system for compensation or injuries.

You can conceivably have a Defendant that is found “not guilty” by a jury in criminal court, but who is then also found liable by a jury in a civil personal injury trial. That’s because it is easier for someone to sue, and win, in civil court, in a personal injury case, than it is for the state to win its case in criminal court.

No Damages Needed

Intentional acts like assault and battery, don’t require that the victim sustained damages. Damages, or injuries, while they may increase the amount of compensation received by a victim, do not have to be proven when the Defendant acted intentionally, like they would have to be proven in a negligence case.

Injured by a crime, intentional act or an assault and battery? Contact our Rhode Island injury lawyers at Robert E. Craven & Associates at 401-453-2700 for help.