Similarities and Differences between Assault and Battery

The Parallels and Differences Between Assault and Battery Offenses

The parallels and differences between assault and battery offenses are numerous. When comparing the two, the fact that both assault and battery are illegal acts is emphasized as a similarity between the two crimes. Once deemed guilty of the offense, the individual who committed either of the crimes faces prosecution. Criminal acts of battery and assault are both deliberate torts. This means that when someone violates the law against another person’s wishes, it can be used as the foundation for a civil lawsuit in which the injured party seeks damages. (Crow, 2011). Typically, the victim demands compensation in the form of money.

Threat of Violence and Harm in Assault and Battery Crimes

Also, in an assault and battery crimes, there is a threat of violence, and mostly the victim of the offense is usually harmed in the process. Despite the similarities portrayed in two crimes, there are key differences that distinguish the two. An assault crime normally faces lesser charges compared to battery offense. A battery crime is more severe compared to assault, and that is why it faces harsh chargers. An assault does not carry a threat. For this treason, it does not matter if the individual is making the threat and does follow through with the threat for him or her to be charged with the assault. On the other hand, battery crime is a more serious charge as it comprises of carrying a threat in the process of prosecution. An example of an assault would be if a woman is walking alone on the road late at night, and a man jumps suddenly in front of her dragging her into an alley. If the man goes ahead to hit the woman, strip her clothes and later rapes her, it becomes a battery.

Consideration of the Man’s Actions and Punishment

The attacker has to be punished and charged due to committing the assault on the woman. The phenomenon is explained that the woman (individual A) was walking late at night on the road when suddenly the man jumped in front of her with the evil intention of scaring person A to fear him and drag her into an alley. This is an assault which is an act of making a person fear someone through using aggressive actions (Glyde, 2016). Also, dragging individual A into an alley, striping and raping her is a battery that is punishable by law. Therefore, the man’s actions have to be punished by the jurisdiction and be handled seriously as a battery crime. This is because, together with inflicting fear on an individual A, the man also caused harm by dragging the woman into the alley and stripping off her clothes against her will. The attacker could be prosecuted to serve in jail or pay huge money in order to be released from jail.

Pattern that Would Change the Scenario

An action that could change the scenario at hand would be if the woman would have made a decision to hit the man using a rock, injuring the man and eventually running away. Here, it can be interpreted that the action of throwing the rock at the man translates to an intention of hitting the man to hurt him. Hence, the case would be changed from being a battery crime against the woman to a battery crime against the man. The woman would be convicted of the crime, and the man would demand compensation for the damages caused.

False Imprisonment

False imprisonment is the state of being imprisoned without any legal authority and is an act punishable under criminal law. According to Glyde, person does involve in “false imprisonment when he commits an act of restraint on another person who confines that person in a bounded area” (Glyde, 2016). A person convicted of false imprisonment deliberately confines or bonds somebody else’s liberty against the approval of the victim, and it happens when the victim is physically controlled. For instance, when a victim is threatened by a person with violence and if the individual tries to leave, he or she commits false imprisonment. Again, through the use of deception or coercion a person could have committed false imprisonment. Typically, there is no tort involved in this type of imprisonment unless if the defendant intends to cause a plaintiff’s confinement (Crow, 2011). A person is restricted within a certain area without consent.

Difference between False Imprisonment and Kidnapping

False imprisonment involves the holding of an individual against his or her will in a manner that does not ascribe to the stipulated proper authority or jurisdiction of holding persons. The act of kidnapping happens when a person that is not legally recognized as the power to hold somebody physically moves another person for given motives. The underlining reasons behind kidnappings are for purposes of money and political reasons. This is a crime that is punishable by the tribunal. On the other hand, kidnapping is taking a person from one place to another against their will. The person is confined and controlled in a certain place (Anderson and Gardner, 2012). Children are the major victims of kidnapping, unlike false imprisonment. More detrimental, kidnapped victims are likely to be murdered or hurt if the ransom requested is not given or when the motives around politics are not met. Comparing the two, kidnapping is a more serious crime as opposed to face imprisonment. However, both kidnapping and false imprisonment are crimes that occur without the consent of the victim. False imprisonment gives rise to a civil claim for compensation and consist of the unlawful incarceration of an individual without the person’s consent (Anderson and Gardner, 2012). In other words, a person infringes the right of the confined individual from being free through restraining his or her movement. Therefore, false imprisonment when compared to kidnapping could be relatively harmless comprising of self-control of an individual and unobjectionable.

A Scenario that is Romantically Linked

The act of dragging a person means that the individual A is taken to an alley against her will. This is considered to be an assault, and it does not matter the motive of the dragging. Individual A should be willing to get involved in any action from the attacker. Due to this, when person A slaps the attacker it simply means that the individual did it for self-defense. Therefore, the actions of person A should not make the attacker to defend himself. The attacker has to know that the act of dragging an individual against her or his will is an assault that is punishable by law. The attacker physically drags person A into the alley, and she does not want. In fact, this could be viewed to be domestic violence, and therefore individual A should report to the relevant authorities and the attacker could be prosecuted and pay for any damages caused.

References

Crow, J. (2011). Assault on the battery. New Scientist, 211(2827), 42-45. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0262-4079(11)62101-5

Glyde, T. (2016). Crimes against humanity. The Lancet, 387(10028), 1608. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(16)30207-0

Anderson, T. & Gardner, T. (2012).Criminal Law. Mason: Cengage Learning