Working out some frustrations after a bad game,Jessica angrily hits a baseball and then sees it is flying toward the umpire.She yells,"Watch out!" The umpire ducks and the ball misses him.Since there was no physical contact,no assault or battery occurred.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

In legal terms, assault can occur without physical contact if an action intentionally causes another person to fear imminent harmful or offensive contact. In this scenario, the act of angrily hitting a baseball towards the umpire and causing fear of imminent harm constitutes assault, regardless of the actual miss. Battery requires physical contact, so while there was no battery, there was an assault.

Working Out Some Frustrations After a Bad Game,Jessica Angrily Hits