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Assault & Battery

A spouse may sue the other for assault and battery. “An assault is an offer to show violence to another without striking him, and a battery is the carrying of the threat into effect by the infliction of a blow.”

In cases for assault, the plaintiff must show fear of an immediate harmful or offensive contact. The display of force or menace of violence must be such to cause the reasonable apprehension of immediate bodily harm.” Dickens v. Puryear. A cause of action for battery requires proof that (1) the defendant intentionally caused bodily contact with the plaintiff; (2) that such bodily contact actually offended a reasonable sense of personal dignity or caused physical pain or injury and (3) that such bodily contact occurred without the plaintiff’s consent. See, e.g., Andrews v. Peters, 75 N.C. App. 252, 256, 330 S.E.2d 638, 640-41 (1985) aff’d, 318 N.C. 133, 347 S.E.2d 409 (1986); Scott v. Kiker, 59 N.C. App. 458, 463, 297 S.E.2d 142, 146 (1982).