Criminal defense attorneys Matthew R. Meyer and Benjamin Van Severen provide battery defense. Wisconsin has different levels of battery. Pursuant to section 940.19(1) of the Wisconsin Statutes, the crime of misdemeanor battery occurs when:
The defendant causes bodily harm to another by an act done with intent to cause bodily harm to that person or another without the consent of the person so harmed.
“Cause” in the first element means that the defendant’s action was a substantial factor in causing producing the bodily harm.
“Bodily harm” includes physical pain or injury. It also includes illness or any physical impairment.
“Intent to cause bodily harm” in the second element means that the defendant’s mental purpose was to cause bodily harm to another individual, or the defendant was aware that his conduct was practically certain to cause bodily harm to another individual.
Misdemeanor battery is a Class A Misdemeanor and carries with it jail time of up to 9 months or a fine of $10,000.00, or both. Misdemeanor battery defense, provided by a competent Milwaukee criminal defense attorney, is important when facing such serious stakes. Not all criminal defense lawyers are capable of defending your battery case. If your misdemeanor battery offense is an act of domestic violence, special additional considerations arise while defending your case.
Our criminal defense attorneys have defended simple and complex battery cases. In a recent Ozaukee County case, Attorney Meyer defended a misdemeanor battery case involving transferred intent. In that case, the defendant intended to strike one individual but ended up striking a different person. For purposes of criminal liability, the intent transferred. Understanding complex legal theories is important for misdemeanor battery defense. The legislature has addressed the issue of transferred intent in battery cases.
The 1953 Judiciary Committee Report on the Criminal Code made clear that:
It is immaterial that the human being killed is not the one the actor intended to kill. If X shoots at and kills a person who he thinks is Y but who is actually Z, X is as guilty as if he had not been mistaken about the identity of the person killed. The same is true where X shoots at Y intending to kill him, but he misses Y and kills Z. In both of these cases, X has caused “the death of another human being by an act done with intent to kill that person or another.” In other words, the section incorporates the common law doctrine of “transferred intent.”
Our Milwaukee criminal attorneys provide misdemeanor battery defense. If you’re looking for a defense attorney who will fight for you and your rights, contact Meyer Van Severen, S.C. at (414) 270-0202 today. No case is too big or too small for Meyer Van Severen.