Battery

Donald Trump’s campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, was charged with battery on 3/29, following an altercation with the reporter Michelle Fields after a press conference. Lewandowski and Trump deny Fields’s charge that she was grabbed, despite eyewitness accounts, a photo of her bruises, and video footage that shows the incident.

Battery means “an act of battering or beating,” or “an offensive touching or use of force on a person without the person’s consent.” It comes from the French word battre, meaning “to beat” which derives ultimately from Latin.

Lewandowski is charged with simple battery, defined in Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of Law as “criminal battery that is not accompanied by aggravating factors (as a dangerous weapon).” Simple battery is usually classified as a misdemeanor, as it is in this case.

Aggravated battery, for comparison, usually involves a dangerous weapon or is committed on a legally protected category of person, such as a minor or police officer.