Black-letter propositions
- 01
Battery is unlawful force causing bodily injury or offensive contact; aggravated forms add serious harm, a weapon, or protected victim.
- 02
Assault is attempted battery or intentional creation of reasonable apprehension of imminent battery.
- 03
False imprisonment is intentional unlawful confinement within boundaries; kidnapping generally adds significant movement or concealment.
- 04
Consent can negate some offenses but is limited by incapacity, coercion, fraud, and public policy.
- 05
Modern sexual offenses turn on statutory conduct, consent, capacity, force, and mental state; use supplied statutory language.
Use this attack sequence under time
Frame the issue
Identify exact conduct and mental state.
Resolve the next checkpoint
Distinguish completed battery from both assault theories.
Resolve the next checkpoint
For confinement, find boundaries, awareness or harm, and legal authority.
Finish the conclusion
Apply the supplied statute to sexual offenses.
Common wrong turns
- Words can create assault when paired with immediacy and apparent ability.
- Future threats ordinarily lack imminence.
- Movement merely incidental to another offense may not satisfy kidnapping.
Worked example
A person points an unloaded gun at a victim who reasonably believes it is loaded and threatens to fire now.
The actor intentionally created reasonable apprehension of imminent harmful contact, supporting assault even though factual impossibility prevents a shooting.
Practice this topic
How the Model Penal Code grades assault
The Model Penal Code folds common-law assault and battery into one offense, assault, in § 211.1, and grades it in two tiers. Simple assault is a misdemeanor: attempting to cause bodily injury, purposely, knowingly or recklessly causing bodily injury, negligently causing bodily injury with a deadly weapon, or attempting by physical menace to put another in fear of imminent serious bodily injury.
Aggravated assault is a felony of the second or third degree. It covers attempting to cause serious bodily injury, causing serious bodily injury purposely, knowingly or recklessly under circumstances showing extreme indifference to the value of human life, and causing bodily injury with a deadly weapon.
Because the Code criminalizes both attempted battery and threatened battery, one statute reaches the two common-law forms, and the grade turns on the mental state and the harm. The civil side of the same act, with its own intent and consent rules, is covered in the torts guide on intent, battery and assault.
False imprisonment and kidnapping
Cornell says false imprisonment occurs when a person intentionally restrains another in a way that confines them within a bounded area without consent or legal authority, and the plaintiff must be aware of the confinement in the civil case. Kidnapping is a common-law crime consisting of unlawful restraint of a person's liberty by force or show of force. Modern law usually requires that the victim be taken to another location or concealed.
In some jurisdictions kidnapping accompanied by bodily injury, sexual assault or a ransom demand becomes first-degree or aggravated kidnapping. Abduction is a broader category that generally does not require force or threat.
Frequently asked questions
What is the controlling rule for assault, battery, confinement, and kidnapping?+
Assault can be attempted battery or intentional imminent apprehension; every other person offense requires its own statutory act, circumstance, and culpability.
How should I analyze assault, battery, confinement, and kidnapping on the bar exam?+
Identify exact conduct and mental state. Distinguish completed battery from both assault theories. Apply the supplied statute to sexual offenses.
How does the Model Penal Code grade assault?+
Simple assault is a misdemeanor and aggravated assault is a felony of the second or third degree, with the grade set by the mental state and the seriousness of the injury or weapon.
Does the Model Penal Code separate assault from battery?+
No. Section 211.1 calls both crimes assault and covers attempted battery and threatened battery in the same offense.
What is false imprisonment?+
Intentionally restraining another in a way that confines them within a bounded area without consent or legal authority.
What is kidnapping at common law?+
Unlawful restraint of a person's liberty by force or show of force, and modern law usually requires that the victim be taken to another location or concealed.
How does abduction differ from kidnapping?+
Abduction is a broader category that generally does not require the threat or use of force, according to Cornell's summary.