The Short Answer
California charges dozens of assault and battery variations: assault is the attempt or ability to apply force, battery is actual contact, and penalties escalate with injuries, weapons, and protected victims. Many charges are wobblers that can be kept at or reduced to misdemeanors. Self-defense, mutual combat, and false accusations are real, winnable defenses in these cases.
Assault and battery are two distinct offenses, and the difference is the one most people get wrong. Assault under Penal Code 240 is an unlawful attempt with the present ability to apply force — no contact required. Battery under PC 242 is the contact itself, however slight. Throw something at someone and miss and you have still committed an offense. Point a weapon and you may have committed a more serious one.
From there the Penal Code branches into dozens of variations, sorted by who was hurt — a spouse, an elder, a dependent adult, a peace officer — and by how badly. Weapon allegations add another layer, and a weapon does not have to be a gun or a knife: a bat, a bottle, a boot, or a car can all qualify as used. Farris Law Firm defends these cases across Orange County and Los Angeles, where the difference between a misdemeanor and a strike is often a single charging decision.
Assault and Battery Charges We Defend
Simple assault (PC 240)
An unlawful attempt, coupled with a present ability, to commit a violent injury. Present ability is a real element — a threat you could not possibly carry out is not an assault.
Battery (PC 242)
Any willful and unlawful use of force or violence on another person. The contact can be slight and need not leave a mark or cause pain.
Battery causing serious bodily injury (PC 243(d))
A wobbler. Turns on the statutory definition of serious bodily injury in PC 243(f)(4), which is narrower than prosecutors often treat it.
Assault with a deadly weapon (PC 245(a)(1), (a)(2))
A wobbler and, as a felony, a strike. Everyday objects qualify depending on how they were used; a firearm falls under PC 245(a)(2).
Assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury (PC 245(a)(4))
No weapon needed — the force itself is the allegation. Charged frequently in fights where the injury was worse than either person intended.
Protected-victim variants (PC 243(b), (c), PC 245(c), PC 368)
Battery or assault on a peace officer, and abuse of an elder or dependent adult under PC 368, all carry elevated exposure over the same underlying conduct.
Defenses That Work in Assault Cases
Fights have two sides and police usually hear one of them first. Almost every element of these charges is contestable:
- Self-defense and defense of others: you may use reasonable force against a reasonable apprehension of harm, and the person who called 911 first is not automatically the victim
- Mutual combat, where both people agreed to fight and neither is the aggressor the prosecution needs
- No present ability, which PC 240 requires — words and gestures alone are not an assault
- The object was not a deadly weapon as it was actually used, which drops PC 245(a)(1) out of strike territory
- The injury does not meet the PC 243(f)(4) definition of serious bodily injury, reducing PC 243(d) to simple battery
- Mistaken identity and false accusation, tested against the physical evidence, the medical records, and everything the parties said before police arrived
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between assault and battery?
Assault under PC 240 is the attempt plus the present ability to apply force. Battery under PC 242 is the application itself. You can commit an assault without ever touching anyone — swinging and missing, or throwing something that does not land — and you can commit a battery with contact that causes no injury at all. They are frequently charged together from a single incident, and they carry different maximums: PC 241(a) caps the fine at $1,000, PC 243(a) at $2,000.
Is assault with a deadly weapon a strike?
As a felony, yes. PC 245(a)(1) filed as a felony is a serious felony under PC 1192.7(c)(31), which makes it a strike under the Three Strikes law — doubling any future sentence and limiting credits. But PC 245(a)(1) is a wobbler, so whether it is a felony at all is a live question at charging, at the preliminary hearing, and on a PC 17(b) motion. That fight is usually the most valuable work in the case.
Can I be charged if I never touched anyone?
Yes. PC 240 requires an attempt coupled with present ability, not contact. Throwing a rock or a bottle that misses, swinging and missing, or in some circumstances pointing a weapon can each support a charge. What the prosecution still has to prove is the present ability and the willfulness — which is why cases built on gestures, distance, or an object that could not have reached anyone are worth testing rather than pleading out.
Can an assault case be diverted?
Often, yes. Assault and battery charges filed as misdemeanors can qualify for judicial diversion under PC 1001.95, which lets the judge dismiss the case on completion of requirements such as anger management and community service — and lets them do it over the prosecutor's objection. The significant exception is anything categorised as domestic violence: PC 1001.95(e) excludes PC 273.5 and PC 243(e), so a fight with a partner or family member follows a different track.