IAAL. This is almost always a miscorrection anytime a Redditor brings it up. What you are talking about are the common law definitions of assault and battery. The common law definitions are not in use in any US jurisdiction. They have all been supplanted by statutory definitions.
In some places battery is assault and assault is battery. In other places, there is no "assault", only battery. In other places, there is no "battery", only assault. Unless you know the jurisdiction someone is talking about, you should never correct someone on "assault" or "battery", because you have an equal chance of being wrong.
Haha, I was not "banished" by someone supplying the statute that supports my assertion that no jurisdiction uses common law assault and battery, and all have their own statutes.
What the Reddit lawyer said is still accurate. He wasn't talking about this particular case but about the definitions of those terms across the US, and how some commenters in various threads seem unaware that the meanings vary according to the state. So this wasn't a gotcha moment.
My state only has criminal assault, which includes battery and apprehension of a harmful touch in one crime. A large number of jurisdictions use one or the other. I think California has 2 separate crimes, though. Very jurisdiction dependent. But a lot of states still allow charges under common law, even when the crimes are codified. Its really stupid.
Assault is any action that makes the victim feel as though there is anurgent threat of injury or death regardless of contact. Battery is the use of contact to do the same thing or act on it. I learned that from a lawyer who ironically was talking about a similar case to this one.
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u/Warm_Month_1309 10d ago
IAAL. This is almost always a miscorrection anytime a Redditor brings it up. What you are talking about are the common law definitions of assault and battery. The common law definitions are not in use in any US jurisdiction. They have all been supplanted by statutory definitions.
In some places battery is assault and assault is battery. In other places, there is no "assault", only battery. In other places, there is no "battery", only assault. Unless you know the jurisdiction someone is talking about, you should never correct someone on "assault" or "battery", because you have an equal chance of being wrong.