Assault and Battery: Criminal Versus Civil Action

Assault and battery victims could be compensated for his or her injuries

Athreat of violence is criminal, but actual violence carries greater penalties. Victims might be awarded restitution in criminal court but may also pursue a civil suit.

The crimes of assault and battery are related but distinct from each other under the California penal code. And while both could be the foundation of criminal charges and civil lawsuits, how they are handled between those two different justice systems varies. The District Attorney files criminal charges. sometimes called an "assault and battery lawyers", brings a civil action against the perpetrator with respect to the victim.

A primer:

Assault - This really is less a real act than the usual threat, sometimes called "attempted battery." Technically, it's one person threatening physical violence with the capability to do so, but falling in short supply of actually touching the person. Under California law, the swing of a fist that misses its intended target is assault.

Battery - Battery is the completion of the intention to assault, such as once the fist makes experience of the victim. But it breaks into subcategories: simple battery can include unwelcome touching; sexual battery is non-consensual contact of any type with intimate areas of the body (genitalia, breasts, etc.); aggravated battery, which might rise to the level of being a felony as it results in great harm (debilitating injury, disfigurement, etc.).

Note also there's "assault with a life-threatening weapon," which includes the threat of violence with or lacking any actual knife, club or firearm where in actuality the threat of serious bodily injury is present.

Criminal charges and penalties - An assault conviction might end up in informal probation, a $1,000 fine, community service and an education program such as anger management classes.

If convicted of simple battery, the penalties can include probation, six months in jail, a $2,000 fine plus community service and mandatory education designed to stem violent behavior. Aggravated battery can hold up to full year in jail or, when it rises to the felony level up to four years in state prison and a $10,000 fine. Assault with a life-threatening weapon can involve up to four years in prison as well, a $10,000 fine, weapon confiscation and victim restitution.

A quirk of California law is that while an act of battery necessarily implies an assault took place - seconds before the fist struck, like - sentencing can only be made for one charge. This might permit the attorneys for the defendant to plea bargain for a phrase on the lesser charge, that of assault.

Civil lawsuits by victims against perpetrators - Victims may do more than rely on the court ordering restitution for the crime which was committed against them. Under some circumstances (when the perpetrator has assets worth pursuing).

An attorney versed in personal injury could be necessary to pursue damages in civil court with respect to the victim.