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Frequently Asked Questions: Assault / Battery / Shootings
Frequently Asked Questions: Personal Injury
Article: Batteries, Assaults, and Shootings
Most acts of violence give rise to both criminal and civil causes of action. » More …
"Offensive contact" is simply any contact that is not expressly or impliedly consented to. A person who gets bumped while walking through a crowd of people is said to have impliedly consented to such contact.
For the purposes of battery, there is no requirement that the victim was aware of the contact at the time it occurred. For example, a patient may sue his or her doctor for unconsented contact that occurred when the patient was unconscious. In contrast, a cause of action for assault requires that the victim be aware of the imminent contact at the time it occurs. For that reason, if the doctor in the prior example almost performed the wrong surgery but stopped before he made any contact, no cause of action for assault or battery exists. Furthermore, the plaintiff need not show fear of contact, just awareness of imminent contact.
The tort of battery extends beyond contact to your immediate body and includes anything you are in contact with. For example, if a defendant begins tugging at plaintiff’s purse, defendant can still be liable for battery.
Not usually. Battery and assault both require that the defendant acted intentionally. In cases where the plaintiff was harmed by defendant’s careless acts, a cause of action for negligence may arise. Like battery and assault, a plaintiff is entitled to recover for a defendant’s injury-causing negligent acts.
The apprehension of physical contact must be considered “reasonable.” A court will generally not protect a plaintiff who is overly sensitive or fearful, though there are some exceptions, such as when the defendant is aware of the plaintiff’s sensitive condition. A judge or jury will assess whether the conduct was reasonable by asking how a reasonable person in that situation would react to the defendant’s conduct. In providing the requisite standard of care, an experienced attorney who is familiar with judge or jury-mentality may be able to assess the reasonableness of the reaction.
Words alone are generally not sufficient to sustain a cause of action because the contact expected is not “imminent.” However, when threats are accompanied by overt acts such as the clenching of fists or the raising of hands, as if to strike a blow, such words and actions may qualify as an assault. A conditional threat may also give rise to a cause of action for assault, for instance, if a person threatens to hurt you if you do not pay them.
A minor can be liable for the actual damages inflicted, but a minor cannot be liable for punitive damages. Parents may be liable for injuries inflicted by their children when they have an opportunity to control their child, know of the child’s violent tendencies, and fail to exercise reasonable care in controlling their child. There are some additional special circumstances where parents can be liable for the wrongful actions of their child.
In simplest terms, a battery occurs when an aggressor actually makes harmful contact with a person. An assault occurs when no actual contact was made, but the victim feared that contact was imminent. In both cases, the aggressor must be acting intentionally.
Victims of batteries or assaults may sue for their past and future medical bills, lost wages, loss of earnings, as well as physical pain and mental suffering. In cases of egregious behavior, plaintiffs may be entitled to recover punitive damages.
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