Some Legal Defenses to be Aware of

Legal Defenses Against Assault/Battery

An instance of the criminal justice system bringing a charge against a specific individual for having committed an act of assault and battery and accordingly be subject to criminal penalties could potentially be responded to in a number of possibly relevant ways. Some of these common defenses, as should be known to an assault and battery defendant who knows or believes such charges to be false, can be noted as including:

Consent

If a statement on the part of the purported victim is available to the court for the purposes of perusal, or if the circumstances of the particular case can be seen as imposing specific understood conditions, it may be claimed that the act of assault and battery took place with the consent of the individual adversely affected. For instance, it is unlikely that a boxing match contestant could be served with an assault and battery charge for that reason unless the relevant behavior clearly overstepped the stated or implicitly understood bounds for such behavior.

Arrest/Official Act

An officer empowered to enforce the law must generally have some degree of latitude to commit actions as might otherwise constitute assault and battery in order to discharge official duties.

Punishment

If performed within legally observed bounds, assault and battery might be permitted as a means for punishment performed by a legally empowered authority.

Defense of Property

Members of the public may also be recused from assault and battery charges on the basis of acting to defend their property or residence.

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