Law Essay: Criminal Law

Criminal Law
Student Name
Course
University
Date
Criminal Law
Introduction
James has been hit, which has caused him a headache and a black eye, thus leading to a potential assault or battery. Pete inflicted the injury when he punched James on the face, which made him unstable and eventually fell. Pete is likely to be faced with a battery charge.
Actus Reus: Battery
Atypical battery definition is the intentional offensive or harmful touching of an individual without their consent. Under this general definition, a battery charge requires; no consent from the victim; touching must be harmful or offensive and unintentional. The battery usually ranges from the apparent acts of physical attack such as punches and kicks to the most minimal contacts in some cases. In general, the victim must be harmed or injured, as long as the harmful contact is involved. The jury often evaluates the contact to be harmful or not through an ordinary person (Findlaw, 2017). Actus Reus of battery involves three things; application, unlawful and physical force. Pete's punch made James trip, thus the cause of headache. It was an unlawful act for James not to protect himself from the punch. Considering Pete's actions, it is legally substantial that throwing the punch warranted his arrest.
Men's Rea: Battery
Men's rea for battery refers to the intention of applying unlawful physical force. It can also be viewed as being reckless in applying such force (E-lawresources.co.uk, 2019). In assessing the scenario, Pete does not intend to harm James, but rather he was provoked by the insults. However, the evidence clearly showed that Pete acted in a way that could harm James, which constitutes a battery. Therefore, the defendant could be convicted of criminal battery. This is contrary to the initial intention of Pete of not having to harm James.
Types of Battery
There are three major types of battery that include aggravated battery, medical battery, and simple battery. An aggravated battery is a battery against a specific class of individuals, for instance, a battery against a police officer, spouse, child, or elderly. On the other hand, medical battery refers to unauthorized handling or touching of a patient's body by a doctor or any other medical professional. In the above situation, Pete punched James in the face, which led to an injury. This is a simple battery, which refers to the force or unauthorized contact against another individual that might result in injury or offensive touching (Peeler, 2011).
The law of battery was formulated in the latter half of the 19th century and common law principles. The main idea behind the formulation of the law was to control intent to recklessness, which in extreme cases led to murder (Hall, 1940, p. 134). In battery offenses, there should be a clear distinction between intention and recklessness. A reckless act is driven by the desire to accomplish a particular action, while intention, an individual knows what outcomes will result from their actions. Therefore an individual commits a battery offense when he/she intentionally harms or comes into contact with another person without any legal justification. In general terms, assault is usually considered to be a lesser crime compared to batter...