Legal Definitions - battery

In legal terms, battery refers to the intentional act of causing harmful or offensive physical contact with another person without their consent. This contact does not necessarily have to cause physical injury; it can simply be an unwanted touch that a reasonable person would find offensive or disrespectful. The crucial elements are that the person making contact intended to do so, and the resulting contact was either harmful or offensive.

Here are some examples to illustrate the concept of battery:

• Example 1: Unwanted Contact in a Public Place

  Imagine a person, frustrated by a slow-moving queue at a concert, intentionally shoves the person in front of them to try and make them move faster. Even if the person shoved does not suffer any physical injury, the act of intentionally pushing them without their permission constitutes battery because it is an unwanted and offensive physical contact.

  This illustrates battery because the shover intentionally made physical contact that the recipient found offensive, even in the absence of physical harm.

• Example 2: Intentional Harmful Contact

  Consider a situation where two neighbors are arguing over a property line. During the heated exchange, one neighbor intentionally throws a small rock that strikes the other neighbor's arm, causing a bruise. This act would be considered battery because there was an intentional act (throwing the rock) that resulted in harmful physical contact (the bruise) without the other neighbor's consent.

  This demonstrates battery as it involves an intentional act leading to direct physical harm to another person.

• Example 3: Contact with Personal Belongings Connected to a Person

  Suppose a student is wearing a backpack, and another student, as a prank, intentionally yanks the backpack off their shoulders, causing the first student to stumble. Even though the contact was primarily with the backpack, which is connected to the student's person, this could still be considered battery. The law recognizes that contact with items closely associated with a person's body can be treated as contact with the person themselves, especially if it causes offense or disruption.

  This example shows that battery can occur even if the direct contact is with something closely connected to a person, rather than their skin, as long as the intent and offensive/harmful outcome are present.