NRS § 200.471 – Assault & Battery – Nevada Law & Penalties

Nevada Revised Statute § 200.471 defines the crime of assault as deliberately attempting to use force against a victim or placing the victim in reasonable fear of imminent bodily harm.

In contrast, battery (NRS § 200.481) is deliberately touching another person in an unlawful way. Therefore, an assault turns into a battery when physical contact is made.

“Simple assault” and “simple battery” are both misdemeanors carrying:

• up to 6 months in jail and
• a fine of up to $1,000.

However, assault and battery can become felonies if there are aggravating circumstances such as deadly weapons.

Depending on the case, prosecutors may be willing to reduce or dismiss assault or battery charges as part of a plea bargain. There are several possible defenses to fight allegations:

1. the incident was an accident;
2. you acted in lawful self-defense;
3. you were falsely accused; or
4. the victim was never in reasonable apprehension of immediate bodily harm (for assault cases).

In this article, our Las Vegas criminal defense attorneys discuss assault under NRS 200.471 and how it differs from battery:

• 1. Assault & Battery Defined
• 2. Penalties
• 3. Best Defenses
• 4. Immigration Consequences
• 5. Record Seals
• 6. Related Offenses
• Additional Reading

1. Assault & Battery Defined

Assault and battery are distinct crimes in Nevada even though people often use the terms interchangeably.

Assault (NRS 200.471)

An assault occurs when you intentionally put another person in reasonable apprehension of immediate bodily harm. The victim experiences no touching, just the fear of being touched at any moment.¹

Examples of assault include:

• throwing a bottle or other object in someone’s direction and missing;
• trying to slap a person, but the person ducks so no physical contact is made;
• holding a knife by a person’s throat; or
• pointing a loaded taser gun at someone.²

In general, words alone are insufficient to qualify as an assault:

Example: Jim has left the men’s room in a Boulder City restaurant when he sees that his seat at the bar has been taken by Sam. Jim goes to Sam, stares at him meanly and says, “Listen up, jerk. If you do not get out of that seat in one second, you can be damned sure that you will be limping out of here in two!”

In the above example, a prosecutor might try to argue that Jim committed an assault against Sam. This is because his “fighting words” possibly put Sam in reasonable apprehension of being immediately harmed.

In practice, though, it is rare for prosecutors to bring assault cases involving only verbal threats.³ Had Jim also held up his fist to Sam while threatening him, Jim would likely face criminal charges.

A key element of assault is that the victim is aware of the immediate physical threat. Therefore, it is impossible to assault someone who is

• sleeping,
• looking away,
• in a coma, or
• otherwise unconscious.

Battery (NRS 200.481)

Battery is the intentional and unlawful touching of another person.⁴ Examples of battery include:

• hitting;
• stabbing; or
• biting.

Unlike assault, battery requires physical contact. It makes no difference if the physical contact is indirect, such as:

• causing a person to get sick by poisoning that person’s drink; or
• knocking someone’s phone out of their hand.

Also unlike assault, battery does not require that the victim be aware of the touching. For instance, it is still battery to beat up someone who is passed out even if the victim has no recollection of the attack.

Note that battery is an entirely separate offense from battery domestic violence (NRS 200.485), which constitutes physical violence between

• family,
• romantic partners, or
• other cohabitants.

2. Penalties

Nevada’s penalties for assault and battery vary depending on the circumstances of the case.

The sentence is always harsher whenever you knew — or should have known — that the victim was a “protected class” and on duty. “Protected class” occupations include:

• officers (including the police),
• firefighters,
• judges,
• state officials,
• health care providers (including medical doctors and first responders),
• school employees (including teachers and administrators),
• taxi drivers,
• transit operators, or
• sports officials.

Sentences are also more severe whenever a deadly weapon is involved. Deadly weapons comprise any inherently dangerous object like a firearm or knife.⁵

In addition, you face steeper penalties if at the time you were either:

• incarcerated in city/county jail or in prison,
• in lawful custody (such as after an arrest),
• on parole, or
• on probation.

Finally, the penalties for battery increase whenever the victim sustains serious injuries.

Assault Penalties (NRS 200.471)

Assault with a Deadly Weapon

Assault with a deadly weapon in Nevada is always a category B felony. The sentence is:

• 1 to 6 years in prison, and/or
• up to $5,000 in fines.

Note that it makes no difference if you actually used the deadly weapon or merely had present access to it:

Assault without a Deadly Weapon

Ordinarily, assault with no deadly weapon — called “simple assault” — is a misdemeanor under NRS 200.471. The sentence is:

• up to 6 months in jail, and/or
• up to $1,000 in fines.

However, you will face gross misdemeanor charges if the victim is part of a “protected class.” The sentence is:

• up to 364 days in jail, and/or
• up to $2,000 in fines.

Finally, assault becomes a category D felony if you at the time were in prison or lawful custody, on probation, or on parole. The sentence is:

• 1 to 4 years in prison, and
• up to $5,000 in fines (at the judge’s discretion).⁶

Battery Penalties (NRS 200.481)

Battery with a Deadly Weapon

Battery with a deadly weapon is a category B felony carrying a minimum prison sentence of two years. The judge may also order a fine of up to $10,000 (unless you were in custody, on parole, or on probation).

The maximum prison sentence is 15 years if the victim was strangled or seriously injured. Otherwise, the maximum sentence is 10 years.

Battery without a Deadly Weapon

“Simple battery” — which is battery without a deadly weapon or strangulation — is a misdemeanor, carrying:

• up to 6 months in jail, and/or
• up to $1,000 in fines.

Battery with strangulation is a category C felony, carrying:

• 1 to 5 years in prison, and
• up to $10,000 (at the judge’s discretion).

Meanwhile, battery is automatically a category B felony whenever you are an inmate, probationer or parolee. The punishment is one to six years in prison.

Battery on a Protected Class

If the victim was a member of a “protected class,” then battery is a gross misdemeanor. The sentence is:

• up to 364 days in jail, and/or
• up to $2,000 in fines.

However, if the “protected class” victim is strangled or seriously injured, battery is a category B felony. The sentence is:

• 2 to 10 years in prison if there was no deadly weapon OR 2 to 15 years in prison if there was a deadly weapon, and/or
• up to $10,000 in fines.

Finally, battery on a member of a protected class with a deadly weapon (but causing no substantial bodily harm or strangulation) is a category B felony, carrying:

• 2 to 10 years in prison, and/or
• up to $10,000 in fines.⁷

See our related articles on battery on a peace officer and battery with intent to commit a crime (NRS 200.400).

3. Best Defenses

Here at Las Vegas Defense Group, we have represented literally thousands of people accused of assault and battery crimes. In our experience, the following four defenses have proven very effective with prosecutors, judges, and juries at getting these charges reduced or dismissed.

The Incident Was an Accident

An assault charge requires the prosecution prove that you intended to put someone in reasonable fear of physical harm. Similarly, a battery charge requires the prosecution to prove that you intended to use unlawful physical force on someone. Therefore, one way to fight these charges is to demonstrate that you lacked any criminal intent:

Example: Right as Fred throws a dart, Hank walks in front of the dartboard, sees the dart coming towards him, and ducks the dart. No assault occurred because Fred had no idea Hank would walk in front of the dartboard.

Later at the pool table, Fred is sliding back his cue stick and strikes Hank, who just walked behind Fred. No battery occurred because Fred had no idea Hank had just walked behind him. These were blameless accidents.

You Acted in Self-Defense

State law permits you to defend yourself (or others) against immediate bodily injury as long as the force you fight back with is reasonable under the circumstances.

Example: Tim starts punching Craig, which is battery. In response, Craig punches Tim back with more force. Then Tim brandishes a stick at Craig without touching him, which is assault. In response, Craig waves his belt at Jim without touching him until Tim runs away.

Here, Tim is the only one who should be arrested because Craig’s measured actions were in reasonable self-defense against Tim’s actions. If Tim had merely elbowed or verbally abused Craig, then Craig’s reaction of punching Tim and waving his belt at Tim may have been too excessive to qualify as self-defense.

You Were Falsely Accused

A possible defense to any criminal allegation is that you were falsely accused. Sometimes, the accuser’s motivation is anger or revenge. In some cases, the accuser honestly but inaccurately believed an assault or battery occurred.

Valuable evidence in these types of cases includes:

• surveillance video of the incident;
• audio or text communications between you and the accuser that may reveal the accuser’s motives; and
• eyewitness accounts.

The criminal charges should be dropped as long as your defense attorney can raise a reasonable doubt about your guilt.

There Was No Apprehension of Immediate Bodily Harm (for assault charges only)

The definition of “assault” under NRS 200.471 is putting someone in reasonable apprehension of immediate bodily harm. Therefore, a possible defense to assault charges is to argue that the alleged victim’s apprehension was unreasonable and/or that the harm was not immediate. For example,

Example: Jenny is walking when Jill comes up to her, stomps her feet, and says, “If you do not pay me the money you owe me in the next five minutes, you are gonna regret it!”

In this case, there is a good argument that no assault occurred because the harm Jill threatened was not immediate enough. Usually, any harm that would take more than a few seconds to occur disqualifies assault as a possible charge.

Furthermore, any fear Jenny feels from Jill’s threat probably is unreasonable since “you are gonna regret it” is too vague.

4. Immigration Consequences

Visa- or green card holders convicted of any violent offense risk being deported. Certainly, this is more likely in felony rather than misdemeanor cases.⁸

Non-U.S. citizens facing criminal charges are strongly advised to seek legal counsel experienced in both immigration and criminal law.

5. Record Seals

Assault and battery convictions are usually sealable from your criminal records once enough time goes by, as this table shows:⁹

Nevada Assault or Battery Conviction	Record Seal Wait Time
Misdemeanor, or Gross misdemeanor	2 years after the case closes
Category D felony, Category C felony, or Category B felony	10 years after the case closes

Note that you can petition the court for a record seal immediately if your charge gets dismissed (which means there is no conviction).¹⁰ Read more about how to seal criminal records.

6. Related Offenses

• Aiming a gun at a person (NRS 202.290)
• Attempted murder (NRS 200.030)
• Domestic violence (NRS 200.485)
• Harassment (NRS 200.571)
• Mayhem (NRS 200.280)
• Stalking (NRS 200.575)

Additional Reading

For more in-depth information, our Las Vegas assault and battery lawyers suggest you refer to these informational articles:

• Assault and Battery by the Reckless Motorist – American Institute of Criminal Law & Criminology.
• Not So Simple: How Simple Assault and Battery Became Distorted in the Context of Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude – Washburn Law Journal.
• Battery without Assault – Army Law.
• Assault and Battery (Wife vs. Husband) – University Law Review.
• Provocation–Assault and Battery as Sufficient Provocation to Reduce an Intentional Homicide to Manslaughter – Kentucky Law Journal.

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Legal References