Battery Forum

Exeter · Post by **Exeter** » Wed Sep 07, 2011 2:47 pm

Can someone explain to me that difference between the 2?

kalvano · Post by **kalvano** » Wed Sep 07, 2011 2:52 pm

None. Battery requires and intentional and offensive contact.

Exeter · Post by **Exeter** » Wed Sep 07, 2011 3:03 pm

kalvano wrote:None. Battery requires and intentional and offensive contact.

our teacher has them as separate entities. There has to be a difference.

kalvano · Post by **kalvano** » Wed Sep 07, 2011 3:09 pm

I've never heard of "offensive battery", so I Googled it. Everything just refers back to "battery", so I feel pretty sure that your professor is working off his own personal law. The only thing I can think of is the difference between criminal battery and the tort of battery.

That's not to say that it won't prove important, since your prof is giving the exam. But since it sounds like something he is making up himself, you probably ought to ask him to clarify it.

brickman · Post by **brickman** » Wed Sep 07, 2011 5:44 pm

offensive battery has to do with offending the dignity of a person by way of contact with an item that is closely tied to the dignity of that person.

I think there is some case about a hat and another about a cane...

dakatz · Post by **dakatz** » Wed Sep 07, 2011 5:46 pm

brickman wrote:offensive battery has to do with offending the dignity of a person by way of contact with an item that is closely tied to the dignity of that person.

I think there is some case about a hat and another about a cane...

That is still battery. OP's professor is merely differentiating in order to highlight the difference, but in the legal sense, a battery is a battery is a battery. Whether it is through offensive contact with the hat on my head or through a punch to my face, it is a battery all the same. Don't think of it as 2 separate torts because it isn't.

birdlaw117 · Post by **birdlaw117** » Wed Sep 07, 2011 6:00 pm

Yeah, Offensive Battery would be touching someone that doesn't want to be touched. A Physical Battery would be punching that person in the face and injuring them. However, they are both Battery (just different ways of reaching the same point).

dakatz · Post by **dakatz** » Wed Sep 07, 2011 6:03 pm

birdlaw117 wrote:Yeah, Offensive Battery would be touching someone that doesn't want to be touched. A Physical Battery would be punching that person in the face and injuring them. However, they are both Battery (just different ways of reaching the same point).

It is still an odd way of drawing the line (though I understand the distinction the professor is making) since a physical contact could certainly be offensive, rather than harmful (think batteries of a sexual nature). Once again, I wouldn't waste time thinking about the distinction here and it will only lead to needless consideration of which category a particular situation will fall under, when such hair-splitting is of no consequence.

OneEl14 · Post by **OneEl14** » Wed Sep 07, 2011 6:09 pm

Battery requires a harmful or offensive contact. So an offensive battery would just be one where the contact was offensive as opposed to harmful. For example, spitting in someone's face could be considered an "offensive" battery. However, it's still just called a battery.

birdlaw117 · Post by **birdlaw117** » Wed Sep 07, 2011 6:16 pm

dakatz wrote:
birdlaw117 wrote:Yeah, Offensive Battery would be touching someone that doesn't want to be touched. A Physical Battery would be punching that person in the face and injuring them. However, they are both Battery (just different ways of reaching the same point).
It is still an odd way of drawing the line (though I understand the distinction the professor is making) since a physical contact could certainly be offensive, rather than harmful (think batteries of a sexual nature). Once again, I wouldn't waste time thinking about the distinction here and it will only lead to needless consideration of which category a particular situation will fall under, when such hair-splitting is of no consequence.

Agreed.

nealric · Post by **nealric** » Wed Sep 07, 2011 10:27 pm

A battery is a device that can chemically store electricity.

An offensive battery is a battery that smells bad.
A physical battery is a battery is a battery that is not imaginary.

What is everyone else talking about

target · Post by **target** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 1:41 am

I will run into offensive battery later this week in torts as well. Although, I think it's just the way my textbook labels battery since it uses the term battery when it talks about prima facie cases in intentional torts.

nealric wrote:A battery is a device that can chemically store electricity.

What is everyone else talking about

nah, battery stores potential energy. It can produce electric current by liberating chemical bonds between atoms.

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