Battery - Civil Suit Against Someone That Harmed You

Battery can be considered a criminal offense and it can be considered an intentional tort in civil court. A battery as an intentional tort has the same elements as a criminal battery except that criminal intent need not be present. For a tortious battery to occur, the requisite intent is merely to touch or make contact without consent. It need not be an intention to do wrong, and the wrongdoer need not intend to cause the particular harm that occurs.

The elements to establish a case for battery are:
1. An act by a person (defendant) with
2. An intent to cause harmful or offensive contact; and
3. Harmful or offensive contact does occur to another person (plaintiff).

The victim (plaintiff) need only prove that the defendant is liable "more likely than not". A "preponderance of evidence" is all that is needed, more than 50% and the defendant is liable for your damages. In a criminal case it is “beyond a reasonable doubt”, a much higher standard to meet.

A civil battery is valid grounds for seeking relief through a civil case. The victim of battery can receive money for their damages from the person who committed the battery. A civil case is brought separately from any criminal charges that may have been brought against the offender (defendant). Regardless of the outcome of the criminal prosecution, or even if there was no prosecution, crime victims can file civil lawsuits against offenders and other responsible parties. Think about the OJ Simpson case where he was criminally not guilty of murder but a civil case was brought against him and the family won millions of dollars (collecting the money can sometimes be a problem, especially if they do not own anything or have a job).

Battery requires no minimum degree of force or force does not need to be directly applied. Two ways of causing a battery without applying any force is to poison someone or transmitting a disease. Accidents and ordinary negligence are not battery. Reasonable force used in the performance of duty by a police officer is not battery.

What kind of batteries can a victim bring through a civil case?
• Bar fight
• Road rage where damages occurred
• Sports injuries where sports players used excessive force in their tactics
• Domestic violence
• A doctor, dentist, chiropractor, psychiatrist, nurse, mental health worker, etc. who fails to obtain informed consent for non-emergency treatment or causes the unauthorized touching of the victim’s person
• Nursing home batteries can occur through sexual assault or by forcing residents to do things or restraining the person unreasonably, etc
• Sexual assault victims can recover costs of counseling, medical care, and time lost from work. Compensation also for pain and suffering, damage to family relationships, and psychological damage. The perpetrator can be compelled to testify in a civil case but not in a criminal case. The victim may pursue justice after a "not guilty" or "guilty" verdict in a criminal case.
• Childhood sexual battery: a childhood sexual battery victim can bring a civil battery case against their attacker 12 years after the age of majority (which is 18yrs. of age); ORC 2305.111 (C).