Assault, Battery, and Crimes against Persons
Instructions
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(A) is walking to towards her car in the shopping mall parking lot when a man suddenly jumps in front of her, points a knife in her face, and demands her purse. The attacker strikes (A) and rips the handle of her purse. Fortunately, (A) took self-defense class and hits the attacker with her knee and fists, keeps her purse, and runs to safety.
Compare and contrast the key similarities and differences between the crime of assault with a deadly weapon and the crime of felonious and aggravated battery. Provide one (1) example of each crime to support your response.
Determine whether or not the jurisdiction in which the crime has occurred should consider the man’s actions as assault. Next, determine whether or not the jurisdiction should punish the man’s actions as battery. Justify your response.
Suggest one (1) different fact pattern that would change the scenario from felonious and aggravated assault and / or battery to simple assault. Support the validity of your response.
Consider the following change to the scenario. (A) is forced at knifepoint into her car and made to drive the suspect away from the mall, where they encounter a police roadblock. (A) is not allowed to leave the car, despite the police negotiator’s demand that she be allowed to exit the car.
Discuss the crime of kidnapping. Next, debate whether or not the suggested change in Question 3 would allow the court to convict the attacker for the crime of kidnapping. Provide a rationale to support your response.
Differentiate between the crimes of hostage taking and kidnapping. Support or critique the notion that one of the two crimes is more serious than the other. Justify your response.
Consider the following change to the scenario. (A) and the attacker are romantically linked and are having an argument in the shopping mall parking lot. (A) pulls a knife from her purse and swings it at the attacker.
Debate whether or not (A)’s action would require the attacker to defend himself. Provide a rationale to support your response.
Use at least three (3) quality academic resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and similar types of websites do not qualify as academic resources.Order Info
Question 1
The significant similarity between the crime of assault with a deadly weapon and aggravated battery is that both actions are categorized as aggravated assault. The assault is classified as aggravated if the attacker uses a weapon with the intent of committing a serious crime like rape. For example, Susan is walking home late at night when a man suddenly jumps in front of her and drags her into the bushes. The man uses a knife to threaten her into silence. At the bushes, the attacker strokes her and begins ripping her clothier off when Susan picks up a rock and strikes the attacker with it before running away. The described case can be classified as aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Other factors that determine the term aggravated assault is if the weapon is used as an aggravating factor depending on the harm caused. Both battery and aggravated assault are classified when the level of attack can cause immediate bodily harm or reasonable fear that requires the victim to be protected. However, (Hall,2008) states that historically, assault and battery were considered as separate terms. The battery is a completed assault where the attacker offensively touched the victim. However, in current times the, the law does not bother to distinguish between the two crimes. Both assault and battery are terms that involve acts of actual physical violence and are referred to as assaults.
According to (Tulin,2008), both aggravated assault and battery are crimes but not the same offence. The significant difference is that a battery charge occurs when there is an actual presence of physical harm. On the other hand, an offender can be charged with assault in the presence of a mere threat. An assault case must generally involve threats of physical harm to another person. Regardless, both crimes may lead to similar punishments based on the specific facts of the case. For instance, an aggravated battery case where Kevin was involved in a street fights with Josh over a deal gone bad. While in the heated argument, Kevin punched Josh, which led to him pulling out a knife and stabbing Kevin multiple times. The case is considered as aggravated assault because a deadly weapon was used at the attack to cause physical harm.
In the case described of A’s attack, the jurisdiction should consider the man’s actions as assault because he threatened to harm A. However, the court should not punish the man’s action as battery because he intended to but did not cause any physical harm to A. The case would change to a simple assault if the attacker had jumped in front of A and grabbed her purse without threatening her in any way. Simple assault cases do not involve threats or acts of physical harm aggravated assault. A case with absence of assault or battery can be dismissed as a simple misdemeanour. Also, some states differentiate simple and aggravated assaults based on the levels of harm caused, such as most serious, which is first degree to third degree less serious assaults.
Question 2
The crime of kidnapping described is the unlawful confinement of a person as a hostage. The abductor forced the victim to stay in the car despite the police demand that she be allowed to exit the vehicle. Kidnapping occurs when a person is taken against their will and confined in a place without the legal authority (Tulin,2008). The offence occurs when the individual is transported for unlawful purposes. The elements of kidnapping involve unlawful restraint, confinement, abduction and movement on illegal intent. The penalties of kidnapping and hostage-taking are often issued based on the usual kidnapping instances. The abductor may take the abductee to an unknown place where he or she cannot be found. However, if the actions fit the criteria of aggravated factors where the victim is physically harmed, the abductor may face a lengthy sentence with compensations to the victim’s family. Illegal hostage-taking involves abducting the victim to compel a party to act or refrain from working in a particular type of way. Hostage scenarios often pose threats to the victim after the expiration of the ultimatum. Since the 1970s, taking hostages is considered a crime or even an act of terrorism.If the abductor holds the victims in a building or a car, the situation is termed as a hostage crisis. Hostage-taking is an act of crime that is prohibited in any place or at any time whatsoever (Crelinsten and Szabo,2011). Using civilians as hostages during internal conflicts is a war crime that is considered a grave breach of convention. Both hostage-taking and kidnapping are serious crimes with grave penalties.
The fact pattern would have changed the scenario from aggravated kidnapping to a plain kidnapping case if the attacker had not assaulted the victim with a knife. However, the jurisdiction will still convict the attacker for the crime of kidnapping because even without the weapon because he was holding A in the car against her wish. The attacker committed an aggravated assault by threatening her with a knife. However, a different pattern still involves the attacker forcing the victim into the car and holding her against her wish.
Crimes of kidnapping do not reveal the person’s location while hostage situations location is known. In a hostage situation, the police are aware of the victim’s location. In the kidnapping, the hostage is taken by force and held for ransom while a hostage situation holds the people hostage until the kidnaper’s demands are met. The kidnapping usually involves the transportation of the person to an unknown destination. Both abduction and hostage-taking are classified as offences in the legal parlance, both the crimes are serious federal and state crimes (Tulin,2008). Moreover, when aggravating factors accompany the acts, they become even more severe.
In the following change of scenario, A is romantically involved with the attacker, and she takes a knife from her purse and swings it at the attacker during an argument. In this case, the attacker has the right to defend himself. He may protect himself through the aggravated battery, but the jurisdiction will justify his actions as acts of self-protection.
References
Hall, L. (2010). Assault and Battery by the Reckless Motorist. Am. Inst. Crim. L. & Criminology, 31, 133.
Crelinsten, R. D., & Szabo, D. (2011). Hostage-taking (pp. 41-53). Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
Tulin, L. A. (2008). The Role of Penalties in Criminal Law. The Yale Law Journal, 37(8), 1048-1069.
