“Assault and battery” are two of the most misunderstood criminal charges out there – largely because everybody thinks they know what they mean, but they usually don’t.
An assault has sometimes been described as an “incomplete battery” because an assault involves a threat of physical harm or an actual attempt to cause physical harm, while a battery requires actual follow-through with contact. However, there’s a big difference between an empty threat and an assault – and that can be critical to a defense.
There has to be a reasonable possibility of harm for a threat to be considered assault
One of the major elements necessary to prove assault is that the defendant must have, at least, appeared to have the ability to follow through on their threat and the intention to do so immediately.
What’s the difference? Consider this example:
- Your 82-year-old wheelchair-bound neighbor gets angry because they don’t like where you parked your car. They hold up their fists in a threatening gesture from their spot on their porch, many feet (and several steps) away and tell you that they’re going to beat you within an inch of your life as soon as they catch you. That’s clearly nothing you reasonably need fear, nor an immediate danger, so it’s just an empty threat.
- Your neighbor’s healthy, large grandson takes offense on their behalf because of where you parked your car and comes directly up to you. While inches from you, they raise their fist in a very threatening gesture and tell you that you need to move your car, “or else.” That’s conveying a credible threat and you would be reasonable to believe that they can and will follow through, so that’s likely to be considered assault.
Understanding the line between “just talk” and “an actual threat” isn’t always easy in real life, but the more you know, the easier it is to avoid legal problems. If you make a mistake, however, don’t compound it by trying to handle the issue on your own.