M1 Battery

Definition and Fundamental Purpose of Battery

  • Battery occurs when a defendant intentionally causes an unpermitted harmful or offensive contact on a plaintiff.

  • The primary purpose of the tort of battery is to protect bodily integrity.

  • Specifically, the law seeks to protect the plaintiff's interest and freedom from unpermitted harmful or offensive contacts.

The Intent Requirement

  • The plaintiff must prove that the defendant acted with a specific level of intent to be liable for battery.

  • Intent is satisfied if the plaintiff proves either of the following:   - The defendant acted with the purpose of making the contact.   - The defendant knew with substantial certainty that the contact would occur.

Examples and Applications of Intent

  • Purposeful Contact:   - The classic example of a defendant acting with the purpose of making contact is when the defendant slaps or punches the plaintiff.

  • Knowledge to a Substantial Certainty:   - This standard is illustrated by a hypothetical scenario involving a defendant at a party who decides to spike the punch bowl with sleeping pills.   - Even if the defendant's specific purpose is merely to play a joke on one specific person, the defendant knows with substantial certainty that other guests at the party will drink the punch.   - Consequently, the defendant possesses the requisite intent for battery regarding those other guests because the unpermitted contact was substantially certain to occur.

Scope of Liability and Extent of Harm

  • The defendant does not need to intend to cause the precise injury that the plaintiff sustains.

  • The defendant is not required to understand the seriousness of their intentional conduct or all the potential harm that might result from it.

  • Irrelevance of Specific Severity:   - Returning to the punch bowl hypothetical: if one party guest develops only mild nausea while another guest becomes gravely ill, the difference in the severity of the reaction is irrelevant in determining whether the defendant committed a battery.

  • Foreseeability of Harm:   - The extent of the resulting harm does not need to be intended by the defendant.   - Furthermore, the extent of the harm does not even need to be foreseen by the defendant to establish liability.