Question

Peter brings in a baseball bat to hit Mary because he is mad at her. When he arrives, Mary is sleeping. He lines up the baseball bat with her head and whispers that he is about to take a swing. She does not wake up, and before he hits her, he changes his mind and quietly leaves before Mary realizes he has arrived. Mary later finds out and sues for assault. Is she successful?

A) She can sue for battery but not assault
B) She is successful at suing for both assaut and battery
C) She can sue for battery but only if she demonstrates assault took place first.
D) She cannot sue for either battery or assault
E) She can sue for assault but not battery

Answer 1

Answer:

D) She cannot sue for either battery or assault

Explanation:

Assault refers to the tort of threatening to hurt someone else. In order for assault to exist, the threat of harm must exist.

On the other hand, battery refers to actually doing harm to someone else. In order for someone to be charged with battery, he/she must have physically hurt another person.

In this case, Mary cannot sue for assault because she was not aware of the threat and therefore didn't fear any damage could be done to her.

Answer 2

Answer:

D) She cannot sue for either battery or assault

Explanation:

Battery can be defined as any type of criminal charge that involves unlawfull or unauthorized offensive physical contact with someone, with or without their consent and may result in bodily injuries.

Assault is an attempt to violate another person's right or to violently attack them.

Mary won't be successful in the lawsuit because she was sleeping and thus not conscious of any offensive bodily harm.