Domestic Violence -- Assault

Guide to "Family Law" in New Jersey

Law Lessons from Stinson v. Stinson (App. Div.; Docket No. A-1946-04T1; Decided October 20, 2005; Unpublished):

A person is guilty of simple assault if the person "[a]ttempts to cause or purposely, knowingly or recklessly causes bodily injury to another. . . ." N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1a(1). "Bodily injury" is defined as "physical pain, illness or any impairment of physical condition." N.J.S.A. 2C:11-1a. Very little evidence is required to show bodily injury. For example, the stinging sensation caused by a slap is adequate to support the findings of an assault. State v. Downey, 242 N.J. Super. 367, 371 (Law Div. 1988).

Law Lesson from Blumenthal v. Blumenthal (App. Div., Docket No. A-3840-04T3, Decided October 25, 2005, not approved for publication):

A defendant shaking a fist in the face of a spouse and shoving the spouse into the kitchen counter constitutes assault. Capell v. Capell, 358 N.J. Super. 107 (App. Div. 2003).

The bodily injury component of the Domestic Violence statute is defined as, ["]physical pain, illness or any impairment of physical condition[."] A stinging sensation caused by a slap is adequate to support an assault. N.B. v. T.B., 297 N.J. Super. 35, 43 (App. Div. 1997)

Law Lessons from SCHMIDT v. BAILEY (App. Div., A-4691-04T1, March 20, 2006, not approved for publication):

Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1, Assault can, by definition, be committed by purposeful, knowing or reckless conduct.

A simple assault under N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1a(1) encompasses conduct that "[a]ttempts to cause or purposely, knowingly or recklessly causes bodily injury to another." "Bodily injury" is defined as "physical pain, illness or any impairment of physical condition." N.J.S.A. 2C:11-1a. A "reckless" mental state suffices for this disorderly persons offense. In this regard, N.J.S.A. 2C:2-2b(3) defines reckless as:
A person acts recklessly with respect to a material element of an offense [causing injury to the victim] when he consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the material element . . . will result from his conduct. The risk must be of such a nature and degree that, considering the nature and purpose of the actor's conduct and the circumstances known to him, its disregard involves a gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a reasonable person would observe in the actor's situation.

Return to the What Is Domestic Violence Topic

Return to General Topic Index

NOTE: If you believe that ANYTHING on this Webpage is misspelled, incomplete, inaccurate or downright wrong; or if a Link fails to link to its intended Webpage, please send me an Email, expressing your concern or opinion.

Also, please be mindful that THE INFORMATION AND SOURCES PROVIDED HEREIN MAY NOT BE ACCURATE OR COMPLETE -- YOU SHOULD CONSULT WITH AN ATTORNEY BEFORE RELYING ON THIS INFORMATION. No warranties, express or implied, are made regarding the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of the information.

Also, please be aware that the information on this Webpage DOES NOT constitute LEGAL ADVICE, which advice will only be given in PRIVATE CONSULTATION, after entering into an ATTORNEY / CLIENT RELATIONSHIP, and the execution of a WRITTEN RETAINER AGREEMENT. Also, simply sending to me an email or providing information to me does NOT create an ATTORNEY / CLIENT RELATIONSHIP -- if you wish to retain me as your attorney or mediator, you are welcome to call me at (908)486-2200, or to Email me, to schedule an appointment.

Links

Linked sites are NOT under the control of the Paul G. Kostro, A Professional Corporation or Paul G. Kostro, Esq. (the "Authors") and the Authors are NOT responsible for the content of any linked site or any link contained in a linked site.

The Authors do NOT endorse websites, companies or entities to which links are provided.

The Authors reserve the right to terminate any link at any time.

If you decide to access any of the third party sites linked to, you do so entirely AT YOUR OWN RISK.