News & Commentary from a Santa Ana Attorney
Can I file an injury lawsuit if assaulted?
If you have been physically assaulted by illicit touching of another person, you may seek compensation for an assault and battery injury. Assault cases are often considered to be criminal acts, but if you have suffered an injury it may also be construed as a personal injury claim. Seek the advice of an experienced Orange County personal injury attorney like David Gonzalez to discuss the specifics of your case and your legal rights.
Assault and Battery
Assault is defined as the threat of bodily harm that reasonably causes fear of harm in the victim. Battery is the actual touching or striking another person. If the victim has not actually been touched, but only threatened, then the crime is assault. If the victim has been touched in a painful, harmful, violent, or offensive way by a person this might be battery. Even a minor touching can qualify as battery providing it is painful, harmful, or offensive to the victim.
An assault includes three factors:
- An intentional threat to cause injury to another by force.
- Circumstances that create in the other person a fear of being harmed.
- The person’s ability to go through with the act if not prevented.
The most common assault and battery cases range from fights between students at school, fights between neighbors or fights in public places such as bars or sporting events. Other more serious cases result from domestic violence disputes, rapes and sexual assaults or police brutality. If you have been the victim in any of these situations, contact a Santa Ana injury lawyer who has experience with assault and battery cases and knows how to help you deal with this hardship.
Anyone can sue for assault through a criminal defense lawyer or personal injury attorney, but the highest recovery comes from assault charges that result in serious personal injuries.
Serious injuries may include being slugged in the face, hit in the temple, getting stabbed or being shot. They also usually involve a weapon of some type such as a crowbar, bat, knife, or gun. Finally, an attack classified as a hate crime is a serious assault and battery case. If you are charged with a crime and caused baodliy harm to an individual, get legal representation from a reputable and competent defense attorney like David Gonzalez.