In the legal world, assault and battery mean two very different circumstances. Unless you have a legal degree, it’s likely that you may not understand what they both mean. Today, we’re going to dive a bit deeper into understanding the variances between these two factors so that you can get a better idea of what each one means in the legal realm.

Understanding The Definition Of Assault
Assault is known as the legal intent to cause harm to another person. This threat of bodily harm doesn’t have to be acted upon in order for a person to be legally charged with assault of another person. The only thing that must be true is that the individual charged was demonstrating an ability to inflict harm on another person. This could be an instance like showing a gun and threatening to use it against a particular person. A personal injury lawyer Los Angeles will be able to tell you whether your case is of battery or assault.

Now, it’s important to be clear that assault requires two factors from the person that is charged. The first is the element of intending to cause harm to another person. This could be something as simple as threatening words. When this is coupled with the second element, participating in some action that furthers the threat like showing a gun, the assault becomes fully enacted. A Los Angeles assault lawyers will not be able to charge a person based on one element, like words. However, when both elements have taken place, charges can be filled.

Understanding The Definition of Battery
Battery is the most commonly misunderstood word when it comes to assault. In fact, battery is what most people think of when they believe they’re talking about assault. Battery is physical contact with another person. While in many cases, this form of contact can be harmful, it doesn’t have to be. This type of battery contact could be simply spitting on another person or touching them inappropriately. An assault and battery lawyer Los Angeles will handle cases where a victim has been physically contacted by another person who first threatened assault.

Hopefully, you’ve come to understand the actual differences between the terms assault and battery in the legal world. An assault lawyer in Los Angeles will typically handle the cases where a follow-through of battery didn’t happen. A battery lawyer will handle cases where the threatening was followed through and physical contact with the victim occurred.