ASSAULT & BATTERY

Assault and battery are separate crimes, but are often charged together. The distinction between the two is subtle, but worth understanding if you are facing a charge of assault, battery, assault and battery, aggravated assault, aggravated battery or aggravated assault and battery.

ASSAULT

Assault is, for all intents and purposes, an attempt to commit a battery. It is a threat of force or use of force that makes another person apprehensive of a harmful or offensive contact. Penal Code 240 defines an assault is an unlawful attempt, coupled with a present ability, to commit a violent injury on the person of another.  It is a misdemeanor.

BATTERY

A battery is, for all intents and purposes, the touching of another person in a harmful or offensive manner. It is essentially a willful use of force or violence against another person.  Penal Code 242 defenses battery as any willful and unlawful use of force or violence upon the person of another.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE BATTERY

Under Penal Code 243(e)(1) When a battery is committed against a spouse, a person with whom the defendant is cohabiting, a person who is the parent of the defendant’s child, former spouse, fiancé, or fiancée, or a person with whom the defendant currently has, or has previously had, a dating or engagement relationship, the batter iy is punishable by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars ($2,000), or by imprisonment in a county jail for a period of not more than one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment. If probation is granted, or the execution or imposition of the sentence is suspended, it shall be a condition thereof that the defendant participate in, for no less than one year, and successfully complete, a batterer’s treatment program, as described in Section 1203.097, or if none is available, another appropriate counseling program designated by the court.

AGGRAVATED ASSAULT & BATTERY

An assault and/or battery can be charged as a felony if the offender uses a firearm or some other deadly weapon (Penal Code 245(a)(1) or if the assault and/or battery causes great bodily injury.

SEXUAL BATTERY

Penal Code 243.4(a) provides that any person who touches an intimate part of another person while that person is unlawfully restrained by the accused or an accomplice, and if the touching is against the will of the person touched and is for the purpose of sexual arousal, sexual gratification, or sexual abuse, is guilty of sexual battery. A violation of this subdivision is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, and by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars ($2,000); or by imprisonment in the state prison for two, three, or four years, and by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000).

ASSAULT & BATTERY CHARGES IN ORANGE COUNTY

In Orange County, California, the crimes of assault, battery, or assault and battery are heavily prosecuted. The Orange County District Attorney’s Office is aggressively pursuing the filing of criminal charges for assault, battery, or assault and battery in an effort to deter future criminal acts of this kind within the County of Orange, California. This makes the need for a knowledgeable and experienced Orange County Criminal Defense Attorney that much more important in the defense of your Orange County Criminal Charge.

For more information about assault and/or battery, and/or other violent crimes, as applied under the laws of the State of California, or to discuss your criminal charges with an experienced criminal defense attorney, please contact us immediately at: 949-497-1729 or complete our Confidential Contact Form.