If you have been arrested for assault and battery, or either offense, you are obviously concerned about the meaning. The definitions may surprise you.

Assault, which is quite different from battery is the threatening of a victim, generally verbal. Although assault does not include the actual touching of the victim, the victim believes that he/she is being threatened and in danger of being harmed.

Battery, is the actual harming of the individual, either physical or verbal.
Although some states have replaced the word “battery” with the word “assault”, most states have kept them as two different crimes/charges.

Another Explanation:
Assault – To place another in APPREHENSION of an offensive and imminent bodily contact (a battery). NOTE this is not fear. Therefore, if a 100 pound weakling cocks his fist menacingly at a 300 pound professional bodybuilder, said bodybuilder would not be fearful, but can apprehend that the weakling may hit him, resulting in a battery.

Battery – An intentional harmful or offensive contact with a person or an object intimately connected to said person. Basically, any intentional body to body contact meant to be harmful and/or offensive is a battery. No injury needs to occur necessarily (but with no injury, damages will be low). Also, I could swipe an object out of your hand in anger. That too would be a battery.

If have been arrested for assault and battery or some kind of domestic dispute, consider having a consultation with Alex Truluck.

Alexander Truluck focuses his practice as a criminal defense attorney in Clearwater, Palm Harbor, Largo, Dunedin and the Tampa Bay area. For more information, visit our website at http://www.criminallawyerclearwaterflorida.com
or call (727) 799-3550.

Most people are not well informed about how to act when confronted by the police. There are three common questions people ask.

Does it help to be cooperative?

Do you have to answer their questions?

Can they use my statements against me, even if they are the truth?

The answers are no, no and absolutely. Do you know your Miranda Rights? “Well, yes” is usually the answer. Anything you say can and will be used against you in court. We have heard it on t.v. for years. Most of us know them by heart even though many cops still need to carry a card in their pocket to get them right.

“Then what should I do when I get asked questions by the cops?” Again, the answers don’t change: Choice 1: Ask to speak with your lawyer. Choice 2: Say nothing and a very distant Choice 3: Tell the truth. We have a right to remain silent, but we do not have a right to lie.

“How can I just ignore the cops when they are right in front of me?” I admit that it is very difficult to ignore the direct questions of police officers. However, we must first evaluate the situation in its entirety. When police approach us on the street, we do NOT need to stop and talk to them unless we are ordered to do so. We do NOT need to open ours doors at home for the police and we have a right to exclude them from our property unless they have a search warrant to be there. By avoiding the contact in the beginning it makes it much easier to avoid answering questions by not ever being face to face with the police.

This is not to say that we can fail to stop when the cops try to pull us over on the road or we can refuse to be arrested or resist arrest when cops try and put handcuffs on us and take us to jail. What’s the difference? In many cases there is a very fine line between what the law calls a “consensual encounter” with law enforcement and the police ordering us to do something.

A person should just be careful out there. There is a very fine line between not answering questions from the cops and failing to comply with their “lawful orders”. The trick is to find out where that line is located and stay there. Once you ordered to stop by the cops, you must do that. You still don’t need to talk to them. At this point remember to be compliant. Hand over your identification, keep your hands on the steering wheel and don’t make any sudden movements. Tell the officer if you need to reach for your wallet or into your glove box. Make eye contact with the officer if possible. Listen to what he says. You may not like the way he speaks to you, but deal with it to keep yourself safe in the tense situation.

Alexander Truluck focuses his practice as a criminal defense attorney in Clearwater, Palm Harbor, Largo, Dunedin and the Tampa Bay area.

For more information, visit our website at http://www.criminallawyerclearwaterflorida.com
or call (727) 799-3550.