In both criminal and civil law, a battery is the intentional touching of, or application of force to, the body of another person, in a harmful or offensive manner, and without consent. A battery is often confused with an assault, which is merely the act of threatening a battery, or of placing another in fear or apprehension of an impending and immediate battery. A battery is almost always preceded by an assault, which is why the terms are often used transitionally or combined, as in "assault and battery."

The Restatement (Second) of Torts, Sections 13 and 18, states that an actor commits a battery if he acts intentionally either to cause a harmful or offensive contact or to cause imminent apprehension of such a contact and a harmful or offensive contact actually occurs.

Criminal Battery

The difference between battery as a crime and battery as a civil tort is merely in the type of intent required. A criminal battery requires the presence of mens rea, or a criminal intent to do wrong, i.e., to cause a harmful or offensive contact. Accordingly, a defendant found guilty of the crime of battery is often sued by the defendant in a civil action for the same offense/incident.

Simple criminal battery is most often prosecuted as a misdemeanor. Repeat offenses or the specific nature of the offense may warrant more severe treatment. For example, in some states, a second or third offense against the same individual is a felony. In cases of domestic violence, many states do not permit battery charges to be dropped against the defendant, even at the request of the victim, because of the potential for repeat or escalated harm.

Most sexual crimes include elements of battery (since they are basically non-consensual contacts), and some states actually have penal codes listing the specific crime of "sexual battery."

Aggravated battery is a simple battery with an additional element of an aggravating factor. This is most often the addition of a weapon (whether use was real or merely threatened), and is almost always a felony offense. Other aggravated batteries include those committed against protected persons (children, the elderly or disabled, or governmental agents); those in which the victim suffers serious injury; or those occurring in a public transit vehicle or station, or school zone, or other protected place. These are all aggravating factors that will enhance simple misdemeanor batteries to the level of felonies.

Civil Battery (Tort)

A battery is an intentional tort. The elements to establish the tort of battery are the same as for criminal battery, excepting 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.