Assault and Battery
If you have been charged under Virginia Code 18.2-57 or 18.2-57.2 you are facing the serious charge of assualt and battery in Virginia.
Consequences of these charges:
· Up to 12 months in jail
· A fine of up to $2,500
· A lifetime bar from the possession of firearms or munitions for domestic charges
· A criminal record (that would appear on background checks)
Assault
Assault is defined as the apprehension of a harmful or offense contact. This assault can result from the attempt to battery or apprehension of a battery.
This attempt is an attempted harmful or offensive touching. To prove an attempted battery-the Prosecutor MUST SHOW that the offender intended a battery and performed some direct act (though ineffectual act) towards the commission of the crime.
If the Prosecutor can show the offender threatened to batter and had the “ability to do so” the threat can be actual or implied. The threat must be more than just words. This must commit some act that indicates he or she is trying to harm the victim.
Battery
A battery is a willful, unwanted touching of another done without justification or excuse. The touching does not have to cause injury to be charged as a battery. The touching does not have to cause injury to be charged as a battery. This allows Virginia to charge battery for spitting on a victim, pushing or shoving a victim or grabbing the victim. The touching can also include causing some object to contact the victim (even if you never touched the victim).
DEFENSES
Consent: Is a complete defense of battery. (Examples of this include boxing matches). BUT if the scope of consent is exceeded, the initial consent can become unwanted and would therefore be a battery. One also can’t consent to serious injury or consent when obtained by fraud or duress that consent is not a defense.
Defense of Self or Others: A person can use the amount of force equal to that of the aggressor to protect themselves, others, or property. Excessive force (more than is used) can turn the defense into the offense of battery.
The Touching was Accidental: A battery requires that the touching was INTENTIONAL unwanted or offensive touching. A touching that occurs is purely by accident and it must not be RECKLESS. This would not be a battery.