Which is an element of battery?

Which is an element of battery?

• A. Unintentional harm by accident.
• B. Actually and knowingly touching or striking another person against the will of the other.
• C. The offender caused only property damage.
• D. The offender acted in self-defense.

Answer: (B)

Battery requires intentional, non-consensual physical contact with another person. The statement that best fits this is that the offender actually and knowingly touches or strikes the other person against their will. This captures both the actual contact and the deliberate, non-consensual nature essential to battery. The other options don’t fit: unintentional harm describes an accident, which lacks the required intent; harming property is not battery because it targets property, not a person; and self-defense is a justification, not an element of the crime itself.

Battery requires intentional, non-consensual physical contact with another person. The statement that best fits this is that the offender actually and knowingly touches or strikes the other person against their will. This captures both the actual contact and the deliberate, non-consensual nature essential to battery.

The other options don’t fit: unintentional harm describes an accident, which lacks the required intent; harming property is not battery because it targets property, not a person; and self-defense is a justification, not an element of the crime itself.