Anyone who has been charged with battery, under California Penal Code section 242, should be prepared to retain an experienced criminal defense law firm to represent him or her in court. An experienced criminal defense attorney will know how to examine all the circumstances surrounding a criminal battery case to secure the most favorable disposition of this criminal matter for the client.

Battery is commonly defined as willful use of force or violence directed at another person. Any physical touching can be considered a battery as long as a victim does not consent to it, or if he or she feels that the touching was offensive. You need to know that assault and battery, although commonly mistaken as having similar meanings, are actually two distinct criminal charges.

While battery requires a physical contact to be either harmful or offensive, assault is just an attempt to injure another person and bring about this offensive or harmful touching. For example, swinging a baseball bat at another person will be an assault as long as that person reasonably believes that you are just about to hit them. However, once the bat lands on any part of the victim’s body, a crime of assault turns into a crime of battery.

Defenses are available to a battery charge. The most common defense to the crime of battery is self-defense or defense of others. The key to both of these battery charge defenses in California is to show that a person reasonably believed that he or she was in imminent danger of suffering bodily injury, and the force used was reasonably necessary to defend against such danger.

At Wallin & Klarich, our criminal defense attorneys have over 30 years of experience defending those accused of criminal battery, and are prepared to handle every aspect of your case. Our attorneys will examine the circumstances of your battery case in order to provide you with the best possible defense in your case. Contact the experienced Southern California criminal defense attorneys at Wallin & Klarich today at 1-888-280-6839 and visit us on the web at www.wklaw.com. We will be there when you call.