What best distinguishes assault from battery?

• A. Assault requires actual contact; Battery requires threats only.
• B. Assault requires property damage; Battery requires no harm.
• C. Assault involves threatening to cause violence and fear; Battery involves actual touching or harm.
• D. They are the same offense.

Answer: (C)

The key idea is that assault and battery hinge on different elements: threat or attempt versus actual contact. Assault is about causing fear of imminent violence through threats or an attempted act of violence, so the victim reasonably believes harm is about to happen. Battery is the actual unlawful touching or harm—there is physical contact, not just a threat. So the best choice says assault involves threatening to cause violence and producing fear, while battery involves actual touching or harm. The other options misstate what triggers each offense (for example, assault doesn’t require actual contact, and battery isn’t about property damage). If you threaten someone and they fear an imminent strike, that’s assault; if you actually strike and touch them, that’s battery.