49
votes
Accepted
Why does the victim have to press charges?
Criminal charges are filed and prosecuted by the government, on behalf of the public, and there is no requirement for approval or cooperation by the victim. As a policy matter, a DA may decide to not ...
- 215k
44
votes
Accepted
Is it legal to ask to be shot?
You may legally ask someone to shoot you, or do all sorts of other things to you. There are no laws against asking or various kinds of speech: laws restrict the doing. If you ask a person to shoot you ...
- 215k
44
votes
Is it legal to ask to be shot?
If the act itself is illegal, I think request itself could be illegal under incitement laws. For example in Montana:
45-8-105. Criminal incitement.
(1) "Criminal incitement" means the advocacy ...
- 701
41
votes
Is it legal to leave signs falsely indicating that one's property has been booby-trapped?
Even if it isn't a crime, it might give rise to civil liability in various ways.
For example, it might invalidate your homeowner's insurance coverage if the sign caused the fire department to delay ...
- 213k
30
votes
Can somebody be charged for having another person physically assault someone for them?
Yes.
The charge in that case is solicitation of assault. Usually, solicitation of a crime carries the same punishment as the underlying crime.
On the other hand, if a daughter tells her father what ...
- 213k
27
votes
Is it legal to use force against a person who is trying to stop you from rescuing another person?
germany
Bob through his actions is harming Alice. Thus Eve may use the minimum necessary force to help Alice as Nothilfe, which is defined as using §32 StGB (Self protection/Notwehr) and §34 StGB (...
- 39.3k
25
votes
Accepted
If a person punches my wife and I am right there, do I have a right to punch that person, or use a singular subduing technique in response?
massachusetts
This is a matter of state law, so let's look at a particular state: Massachusetts. My answer below is largely based on the Massachusetts model jury instructions for self-defense cases.
...
- 6,585
21
votes
Is spitting on someone an assault? US and UK
In England and Wales, deliberately spitting on someone is classed as battery under the common assault category of the Criminal Justice Act 1988. Corresponding legislation has been enacted covering ...
- 1,008
17
votes
Is it legal to leave signs falsely indicating that one's property has been booby-trapped?
In most jurisdictions, bomb threats are a crime even on the own property, not just in airports or similar places.
- 17.6k
16
votes
If a person punches my wife and I am right there, do I have a right to punch that person, or use a singular subduing technique in response?
england-and-wales
In English law, you would have an absolute right to defend your partner (or in fact any innocent bystander) using what is referred to as 'reasonable force'. In this instance, you ...
- 4,095
15
votes
Can players and coaches be held criminally liable for actions that they take beyond the scope of their game?
Generally, yes
Can players and coaches be held criminally liable for actions that they take beyond the scope of their game?
Yes. For example, Todd Bertuzzi was convicted with assault causing bodily ...
- 54.8k
14
votes
Is it legal to use force against a person who is trying to stop you from rescuing another person?
united-states
There are dozens of jurisdictions in the U.S. with different criminal laws, but most have adopted the “justification of necessity” from the Model Penal Code of 1967. This created a ...
- 2,884
14
votes
Can somebody be charged for having another person physically assault someone for them?
germany
Solicitation of a crime is a crime in itself, and will be punished in the same way as the actual crime.
Als Anstifter wird gleich einem Täter bestraft, wer vorsätzlich einen
anderen zu dessen ...
- 774
13
votes
Accepted
Are there situations where it is legal to threaten someone with a gun but not legal to fire the gun?
Examples
Detention: A person suspected of a felony can be detained at gunpoint (and, in many jurisdictions, subject to "citizen's arrest"). A more clear example is when you encounter someone ...
- 21.8k
13
votes
Is it legal to use force against a person who is trying to stop you from rescuing another person?
canada
The necessity defence may be available to Eve. In Canada there are three elements to this defence (R. v. Latimer, 2001 SCC 1 at paras. 28-31):
there must be an urgent situation of “clear and ...
- 54.8k
12
votes
Are you allowed to strike a person if they say you can?
This is going to vary by state to some degree. The Wisconsin battery law says in part:
(1) Whoever causes bodily harm to another by an act done with intent to cause bodily harm to that person or ...
- 7,148
12
votes
Can you legally defend yourself against an attacking police officer?
The General Rule
In practice, the only time when self-defense against a police officer is legal is when you do not know and have no reasonable way that you could have known that the person attacking ...
- 213k
12
votes
Accepted
Restraint classed as assault after suspecting unconsented photo
You acted illegally in assaulting your fellow student. When you are in public, a person can legally take your picture, and you are not allowed to assault a person because you do not like their legal ...
- 215k
12
votes
Is dry humping sexual assault?
Most states have two parallel sets of sexual assault statutes. One set punishes sexual assaults involving sexual penetration that has greater penalties. The other set punishes sexual assaults ...
- 213k
11
votes
Does grabbing someone by the jacket constitute assault?
First of all, the jurisdiction would be England and Wales. The UK Government has a helpful page on the topic of assault in criminal law, but we are looking for the most basic idea of assault, and I ...
- 39.3k
10
votes
Why does the victim have to press charges?
Just to add a different legal perspective:
In Germany, it can indeed be necessary to "press charges" for a prosecution to happen. This is because German law distinguishes between Offizialdelikt (...
- 8,095
10
votes
If a person punches my wife and I am right there, do I have a right to punch that person, or use a singular subduing technique in response?
There are two options in Washington state for using force against the assailant. The first is in defense of a family member, see RCW 9A.16.110(1):
No person in the state shall be placed in legal ...
- 215k
9
votes
Why does the victim have to press charges?
So, what I think is happening is that the victim is necessary to the case in order to prosecute the accused individual. I haven't looked at the video, but it seems from the description that the man ...
- 23k
8
votes
Accepted
Why can security guards/bar bouncers physically remove a person and it's not considered battery?
I'm based in England, but I'm sure the principle is similar in Canada.
The night club or concert venue is private property. When someone owns or rents private property one of the main things they ...
- 892
8
votes
Is spitting on someone an assault? US and UK
In the US, it is or is not, depending on the jurisdiction. One question is what to call it. In Oregon it is called "harassment"
A person commits the crime of harassment if the person ...
- 215k
8
votes
Alternate recourse to assault
There's always civil action possible; "assault and battery" has a civil variant as an "intentional tort"
Civil assault and battery are torts. A tort is a wrong committed by one ...
8
votes
Will Smith physically assaulted Chris Rock at an awards ceremony. No charges pressed by Rock. Can someone else?
Yes
The Prosecutor for the local jurisdiction could formally file charges. No complaint by Rock is legally required, and given the video evidence available, Rock's testimony might not be as essential ...
- 114k
8
votes
Can players and coaches be held criminally liable for actions that they take beyond the scope of their game?
united-kingdom
I know you're asking from a USA perspective but certainly in the UK this has happened on a number of occasions.
On April 16, 1994, in a Scottish Premiership fixture against Raith ...
- 183
8
votes
Is it legal to use force against a person who is trying to stop you from rescuing another person?
new-south-wales
Self-defence
s418 of the Crimes Act (my emphasis):
(1) A person is not criminally responsible for an offence if the person carries out the conduct constituting the offence in self-...
- 209k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible