Top Law Schools

I didn't have enough space to write, but in dual intent jurisdictions where you need both the intent to make contact without consent AND intention to make harmful/offensive contact, is there a substantive difference between that and criminal battery?

I haven't studied criminal law yet, so i'm asking.

It depends on what mens rea elements attach to the elements of criminal battery. If you need to 1) act with the purpose of making harmful/offensive contact or knowledge that your act will cause harmful/offensive contact and 2) have knowledge that the contact is not consensual, then they are the same element-wise. But I don't think it's far-fetched to imagine a battery crime where acting recklessly with respect to causing harmful/offensive contact (rather than acting with purpose or knowledge) suffices.

But even if they are the same element-wise, the burden of proof for proving intent (i.e., purpose/knowledge) is much higher for a crime than a tort.