Two Men Assault Man for Harassing Woman - Essay Sample

Introduction

In the incidence, two men called Bubba Hurt and Skeeter Redrum approached Samuel Clark and began yelling at him to leave a woman called Summer Breeze alone. They went ahead to state that it was the "last time he laid his hands on her." Hurt shoved Clark from behind, causing the latter to fall to a sidewalk. Clark tried to pick himself up from the sidewalk but Skeeter Redrum kicked him in the face, causing him to fall onto the street. While Clark was lying on his back in the ground, Hurt began to kick him. Clark responded by grabbing his umbrella and swinging it to hit Hurt in his eye. As Clark tried to stand up, the woman called Summer Breeze hit him in the side of his head with a shoe, rendering him unconscious. Hurt later died at a hospital while Clark suffered a permanent brain injury.

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As the district attorney, I would charge Bubba Hurt and Skeeter Redrum with one count each of simple assault, aggravated assault and aggravated battery. I would also charge Summer Breeze with one count of aggravated assault and another of aggravated battery. I would not charge Samuel Clark with anything as he was the victim who was just trying to defend himself.

The offenses of assault and battery all involve one person intentionally inflicting harm on another. Any offense involving a physical attack or a threat of such an attack is usually perceived as an assault or a battery. The acts can escalate to the level of aggravated assault or battery depending on how serious they are or how dangerous the weapon used is. In addition, attacks involving more than one individual can be classified as assault, such as two or more people engaging in a bar fight.

Simple assault can be defined as any intentional act by an individual that causes another to fear that he or she is about to experience physical harm. According to such a definition, making another person fear imminent body harm is an act that should be punished, even if the person being assaulted is not actually harmed physically. In addition, the definition allows law enforcement officers to intervene and apprehend the assaulter before he or she actually strikes the victim. In the incident above, Hurt and Redrum approached Clark menacingly, began yelling at him, and threatened him of dire consequences if he did not leave Breeze alone. This fits the definition of simple assault.

Historically, assault and battery were perceived as separate offenses. For a crime to be considered a battery, the perpetrator had to physically harm or offensively touch contact the victim. In other words, a battery was a 'real' assault. However, many of today's statutes do not distinguish the two offenses as evidenced in the prevalent use of the phrase 'assault and battery.' Nowadays, statues often refer to physical violence offenses as assaults. The laws of many states in the US describe an assault case as either simple or aggravated, depending on the level of physical harm that occurs, or likely to occur if the perpetrator goes ahead and strikes the victim. Thus, aggravated assault can be defined as an offense whereby an assault is committed with the intention of orchestrating a serious crime like robbery, or with a weapon. In the above scenario, Hurt shoved Clark and caused him to fall while Redrum kicked him in the face. Breeze hit Clark on the head with a shoe, knocking him unconscious. All these instances fall under the description of aggravated assault.

Aggravated battery is a more severe form of assault that typically involves the application of a deadly weapon and results in serious bodily injury. Objects classified as deadly weapons typically include those that could cause serious injury or even death. Whether or not an object is considered a deadly weapon depends on how it is used during the battery. For instance, a pocket knife can be deadly if held to someone neck although it is generally not perceived as a lethal weapon. Some assault cases end up aggravated depending on the victim's status. For example, a person may assault another because of interacting with a spouse or a fiancee.

The mental condition of the perpetrator can escalate a violent act from simple assault to aggravated. If they acted with the intention to cause severe harm or fear of it, the situation can escalate. Reckless behavior can also be perceived as aggravated assault or battery, for instance, when a person behave with irresponsible insignificance to human life. However, such an individual may have no specific intention to injure another one. If a deadly or dangerous weapon is in play, a violent act may become aggravated even if the perpetrator has no specific intention of causing injury.

If a victim suffers some rather serious injuries, the assault case can move to aggravated level. Cases resulting in serious body injuries are categorized aggravated assaults. How serious an injury is will vary significantly from one case to another. Life-threatening injuries together with those that disfigure or maim the victim will be classified as a serious injury. If a certain type of violent act that would normally result in death only causes a minor physical injury, it can still be classified as aggravated assault or even attempted murder. In this case, Hurt was kicking Clark repeatedly as he lay on the ground. Breeze then kicked Clark on the head with a shoe, which can be considered a deadly weapon. It is worth bearing in mind that Clark suffered a permanent head injury. This situation matches with the definition of aggravated battery.

The right to defend oneself against injury or death is among the most basic legal protections in the United States. The self-defense laws give citizens the right to protect their lives using force without fear legal retribution for their actions that may be considered as offenses. The state of Georgia has the 'stand your ground' laws. The laws state that an individual being threatened by another's use of force is not obligated to back down or retreat before he or she can apply force against the attacker. While the laws in other states restrict this behavior to areas such as inside the victim's car or home, Georgia does not restrict the location. It is these laws that Samuel Clark took capitalized on when bubba Hurt attacked him. Clark responded by grabbing his umbrella, swinging it and hitting Hurt in the eye. It is worth bearing in mind that Hurt later died of his injuries. The good news for Clark is that he cannot be held responsible for Hurt's death since it was a clear case of self-defense.

References

Elmore, J., & Ross, L. (2015). Defending individuals charged with domestic assault and battery. Continuing the war against domestic violence, 2, 269-285.

Kaiser, K. A., O'Neal, E. N., & Spohn, C. (2017). "Victim refuses to cooperate": A focal concerns analysis of victim cooperation in sexual assault cases. Victims & Offenders, 12(2), 297-322.