“Simple battery” is Nevada’s least serious battery charge. Typical examples include pushing or slapping someone during an argument.
As a misdemeanor, simple battery carries up to $1,000 in fines and/or up to six months in jail, though you can usually get probation instead of incarceration.1 A conviction needs to stay on your record for two years before you can petition for a record seal.2
You face simple battery charges when prosecutors allege you unlawfully touched someone and the following six things are true:
- The victim did not sustain substantial bodily harm,
- You did not strangle the victim,
- You did not use a deadly weapon,
- The victim was not part of a “protected class” (such as a police officer),
- The victim was not your current or former romantic partner, and
- You were not on parole or probation or in custody at the time.3
The below graphic illustrates when battery is not considered simple in Nevada.
What is battery?
In Nevada, battery is the crime of inflicting unlawful physical force on someone else. Common examples include any kind of hitting, such as punching, slapping, or kicking. Battery can also include:
- pushing or shoving,
- shooting or stabbing,
- pinching or biting,
- scratching or cutting,
- burning,
- spitting on,
- poisoning,
- strangling,
- throwing objects at (such as lobbing a rock at the victim, even if they are in their car), or
- grabbing objects from (such as taking a phone from the victim’s hand or pocket).
Remember, “simple battery” charges apply only if there are no serious injuries, strangulation, or deadly weapons involved.4
Can felony battery charges be reduced to simple battery?
There have been many cases where I persuaded prosecutors to lessen felony charges for battery causing substantial bodily harm or battery with a deadly weapon down to simple battery. A lot depends on the available evidence, such as:
- video recordings,
- eyewitness testimony, and
- medical records.
Also, prosecutors are more willing to agree to a good plea deal if there are no other violent crimes on your criminal record.
Can simple battery charges get dismissed?
Here at Las Vegas Defense Group, I have gotten countless simple battery charges dropped. In my experience, the following six defenses have proven very effective with prosecutors and judges:
- You acted in self-defense or defense of someone else.
- The incident was an accident.
- You were falsely accused.
- You acted out of necessity, and any reasonable person in your position would have acted the same way.
- The victim consented to your touching.
- The touching did not amount to battery.
When police arrive at the scene of an alleged simple battery, there is often no video evidence or eyewitnesses on hand. All police have to go on are warring accounts of “who started it,” so police typically arrest whoever is less scratched up. In many cases, the person with the most scratches was actually the aggressor.
Fortunately, we can often impeach the credibility of accusers just by going through their recorded communications (such as text messages and voicemails). Once we find their motivations to lie and we present this evidence to the prosecutors, they may agree to drop the case.5
Simple Battery vs. Battery Domestic Violence
Battery domestic violence (BDV) in Nevada is just like simple battery except that the victim is someone you were or are in a romantic relationship with. If you punch a neighbor, it is simple battery; if you punch your girlfriend or boyfriend, it is BDV.
Like simple battery, BDV is typically a misdemeanor, carrying:
- up to $1,000 in fines and/or
- up to six months in jail.
In addition, a BDV conviction carries a course of counseling, community service, and a minimum fine. Plus, the penalties grow steeper with each successive conviction: A third conviction within seven years is an automatic felony.6
Additional Reading
For more in-depth information, refer to these scholarly articles:
- Aggravated Battery – The Fist or Teeth as a Dangerous Weapon – Louisiana Law Review.
- Territorial Aggression – Expanding California’s Penal Code Regarding Assault and Battery of Code Enforcement Officers – McGeorge Law Review.
- What’s Reasonable: Self-Defense and Mistake in Criminal and Tort Law – Lewis & Clark Law Review.
- Defending Battered Women’s Self-Defense Claims – Oregon Law Review.
- Assault and Battery – Injury Sustained in Prize Fight – Consent as a Bar to Civil Liability – Vanderbilt Law Review.
Legal References
- NRS 200.481.
- NRS 179.245.
- See note 1.
- Same.
- See, for example, Culverson v. State (Nev. 1990) 797 P.2d 238; Batson v. State (Nev. 1997) 941 P.2d 478. See also Ogunbanwo v. State (Nev. 2021) .
- NRS 200.485