ARTICLE 2 - ASSAULT AND BATTERY § 16-5-23.1 - Battery O.C.G.A. Generally, simple battery will be a criminal misdemeanor charge. The crimes of assault, assault and battery, and aggravated assault all involve intentional harm inflicted on one person by another. However, while some states use the term “sexual battery” to describe sexual touching of a criminal nature, other states use the term to refer to the more serious sex crimes of rape or forced penetration. Depending on the state, it is punishable by 5-25 years in prison. Sexual battery can occur while the victim is clothed, as well as unclothed. Regardless of which definition the jurisdiction uses, the broader definition of assault, or separate definitions for assault and battery, a crime of this nature in the first-degree (or aggravated) is classified as a felony. In terms of battery, it has been suggested that the most appropriate definition of tort in the context of medical law is that a battery has been committed where there has been a “direct act of the defendant which has the effect of causing contact with the body of the plaintiff without the latter’s consent. Contents 1 Defin Battery is concerned with the right to have one's body left alone by others. Under common law, which is the system of law based on judges’ decisions and case law, simple battery was considered to be a misdemeanor. Any crime involving a physical attack (or even the threat of an attack) is usually classified as an assault, a battery, or both. Battery is defined as an intentional offensive or harmful touching of another person that is done without his or her consent. Many states treat assault and battery as two separate crimes, whereas some treat them as the same. Its essential element, harmful or offensive contact, is the same in both areas of the law. It could either be a misdemeanor or a felony according to common law. Assault and battery are a combination of threat and physical harm. Battery is both a tort and a crime. In both criminal and civil law, "battery" is the intentional touching of, or application of force to, the body of another person in a harmful or offensive manner (and without consent).A battery is often confused with an assault, which is merely the act of threatening a battery, or of placing another in fear or apprehension of an impending and immediate battery. battery: At common law, an intentional unpermitted act causing harmful or offensive contact with the "person" of another. Battery (a) A person commits the offense of battery when he or she intentionally causes substantial physical harm or visible bodily harm to another. However, as previously mentioned, this can vary by jurisdiction due to the fact that the crime of simple battery is governed by state statutes. Battery: Definition. 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