What constitutes assault in NZ?

[marty]

A punch to the face is an assault. No two ways about it. My only reservation is that often we deal with people that have been "assaulted" only to find out through investigation that the incident was a fight, (two willing parties trading blows) and the pussy making the complaint lost the fight. (I'm not saying this is what happend in this case)

.

HAHA - how many times has that happened!! steet fights are the best, mates running over to the car to say their buddy is getting assaulted, looks like a fight to me boys, you're both nicked....

[marty]

reminds me - i charged a husband and wife, who had a long history of domestic violence, with disorderly behaviour, as he was chasing her down the sreet with a spade, then she chased him with an axe, then he smashed the house windows, so she smashed the car....you get the picture (well it was in Huntly....)

they were so embarrased when the summary was read in court that they moved out of town

[Constable Plod]

Sorry to dredge up an old thread but I am new here.
Yes I am a cop and a traffic cop to boot.

The definition of assault.
The application of force to the person of another, directly or indirectly. Or threatening to apply such force by act or gesture where the person believes on reasonbale grounds that the person threatening to apply such force has the present ability to do so.

And in english.
Touching someone directly or through another person or by kissing or any other bizzare means that you can think of. Or threatening to do so but not by words alone. It must be by an act ie the clenching and raising of a fist, but only if they have the ability to do so. For example, a person who raises a fist but who is twenty feet from the victim does not have the present ability to apply that force.

Ill be back putting in my two cents worth from time to time.
Happy biking

[Brian d marge]

My wifes cooking . See statute books under assault with intent to injure

Stephen

[SARGE]

I thought I would ask around as I'm sure that there will be a few KB members that have direct knowledge about this sort of thing. I was just wondering what is considered assault, enough to go to the police and lay an assault charge?

Does one actually have to have a black eye? Or be noticably cut or bruised up? I understand assault to be when someone makes an attack on you and you are not retaliating physically. But what I really want to know is what the law system considers to be assault.

Advice from those in the know would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

by the way.. i dont know the way the laws are worded here . but back in the States, ASSAULT is defined as

"An unlawful threat or attempt to do bodily injury to another"

thats right .. no contact has to be made at all.. just the threat, or actions leading a person to believe that he or she is in physical danger...

( if you tell Plonker A that you are going to rip his eyes out of his head and skull-fuck him to death, and he has reason the think that you are capable of it.. you are guilty of Assault..... if you tell Plonker A that you are going to rip his eyes out of his head and skull-fuck him to death, AND YOU ACTUALLY DO IT.. you are guilty of assault and Battery..)


there is another law called MENACING...

A person is guilty of menacing in the third degree when, by physical
menace, he or she intentionally places or attempts to place another
person in fear of death, imminent serious physical injury or physical
injury.

Menacing in the third degree is a class B misdemeanor

[Cibby]

hay all

I was recently on the Jury for a rape, burglary and assult case.

The assult part was because he had spit on someone else.

yes spit..

That is considered assult.. Any force used against someone else was the defination i think...

[Lou Girardin]

hay all

I was recently on the Jury for a rape, burglary and assult case.

The assult part was because he had spit on someone else.

yes spit..

That is considered assult.. Any force used against someone else was the defination i think...

When you consider the diseases passed in saliva, I'd say that's a serious assault.

[ManDownUnder]

Does this apply to school kids as well? My nephew is getting bullied at school and the teachers arent doing a damn thing about it. If we could lay charges on the bully and/or the parents, we'd probably have more luck.

I'd suggest to the school they are being negligent in provide due care to your nephew.

[ManDownUnder]

there is another law called MENACING...

Menacing in the third degree is a class B misdemeanor

...i'll give it a go...

OI SARGE... ummm.... GRRRRRR (*mean look right in the face*)

... how'd I do?

would an angry smilie help?

[Lias]

Scary that intimidation is actually illegal. I wonder if that applies in NZ as well as the US..

Next time a bouncer / security guard "stands over" someone to make them leave, will they get arrested? LOL what a farce that law is.

I dont think threatening to do something without follow through should be a crime at all.. People say shit when they are pissed off.. Hell I know I've threatened to hit people plenty of times when I've been pissed off without ever really intending too.

[SixPackBack]

Scary that intimidation is actually illegal. I wonder if that applies in NZ as well as the US..

Next time a bouncer / security guard "stands over" someone to make them leave, will they get arrested? LOL what a farce that law is.

I dont think threatening to do something without follow through should be a crime at all.. People say shit when they are pissed off.. Hell I know I've threatened to hit people plenty of times when I've been pissed off without ever really intending too.

That's not very nice......takes just as much effort to be nice!

[Lou Girardin]

HAHA - how many times has that happened!! steet fights are the best, mates running over to the car to say their buddy is getting assaulted, looks like a fight to me boys, you're both nicked....

What if he was assaulted and was defending himself until the Police arrived?

[Wolf]

mind you is Helen and her troops get their way smacking your child will be deemed assault.
Ohh it gets better -assault by definition is also To detain against their will.
so If I put my kid in the corner or pick him up to put him to bed then that would be deemed assault. Normally a non issue but in the case of a marital split where any amunition can and is used.........

Well, there goes "Time Out"!

The whole "Reasonable Force", "Like with like" crap is farking ridiculous. What it means is that if Man-Mountain takes on Mr Punyverse 1991-2006 with fists, then fists are all the weedy little runt can use in self defence. Hardly a "fair fight", but the minute Mr Punyverse picks up a weapon to equalise his odds of survival, he's guilty of assault.

What if Mr Punyverse has a 3rd dan black belt in Aikido? That's a "weapon" even though he is using his hands - we were trained in techniques that would slam people's heads into the concrete (unless they knew enough Aikido to roll out of the situation) or screw arms out of their sockets.

I was told years ago that you are required to warn your would-be attacker that you are trained in Martial Arts as you are technically a "weapon". At what point is that supposed to happen? Few perps these days give any warning that they intend to attack from what I've heard - the boxer that got jumped from behind and beaten to a pulp never got a warning, the guy who got stabbed in the throat when he accosted the wanker tampering with his bike never got a warning...

And if, perchance some bugger is threatening you with violence and you do get a chance to say "I must warn you I am trained in martial arts," the bastard is likely to take that as a challenge and attack you anyway - just to "prove" to his mates that martial arts is shit against "real fighting".

To cap it off, his lawyer will then try to say you "provoked him" - after all, the perp is not responsible for his own feeling and actions - you "made him angry" by spouting about martial arts.

If you're lucky enough to have time to react at all, rather than being totally blind-sided (scariest words I've read lately were "it was without warning. I thought he had just punched me until I felt the blood flowing" - a real life account of being knifed: no warning, no idea the fucker was armed until the wound was inflicted), you're likely to be giving your "warning" while one of you is on the ground.

And if someone invades your house with a firearm, you may well be theoretically allowed to shoot the attacker but it begs the question of why you had a firearm in your house in such a condition that it can be readily accessed and fired when the law states that rifle, bolt and ammunition must be stored separately under lock and key. (Which is what I told the bloke who came to reassess my fitness to hold a firearms licence when he asked me what I thought of using a firearm for self-defence - "Well, it's an interesting theory, but...")

These days, you just have to hope you can talk yourself out of it (if you get the chance, if you know there's a threat at all) run from it (same provisos apply) or hope you never get targetted at all (hah, right!) because the moment you defend yourself, you're the monster.

That said. One night when a friend of mine and I were taking my girlfriend (at the time) home, we encountered a car parked in the middle of the other lane, all doors open and four people - 2 male, 2 female - in an altercation on the footpath. My friend (ex-friend now) stopped the car and asked what was going on.

Turns out there this chick had been having violence issues with her boyfriend and she had sought her aunt's help. So girl, control-freak boyfriend, aunt and aunt's boyfriend had spent the day talking and then all well out for the evening, very friendly. Control freak then punches aunt's boyfriend in the back of the head while said aunt's boyfriend was driving - hence the rather unusual parking - he wasn't prepared to risk another belt in the back of the head whilst parking up so he jammed on the brakes.

While this was being explained to us, girl storms off, boyfriend follows and aunt follows to check on girl then comes running back because control-freak is bashing up the girl. Friend and Irace over but Maori Warden stops, jumps out of car and pins the guy down and is trying to calm him down. So we explain situation to Maori Warden's wife who was with him.

Guy flips Maori Warden over (large Warden but don't underestimate the strength of a drunk skinny guy) and gets aggro, frind and I race over and apply an armlock each side, bear the guy to the ground and hold him restrained, unable to move with both arms twisted up his back and he's chewing on grass.

Cops turn up, bloke wants to split but we won't let go, he gets whiney - "You're on the fucking pigs' side" - just as the cop's approaching. Cop gives us a grin, and says "Let him up boys, if he want's fun I'm sure we can oblige him."

We did not get done for assault for pinning the guy down - mind you, the only harm he would have sustained from us is sore shoulder muscles and an after-taste of grass the next day...

Warn him? He found out we were trained when we explained it to the Maori Warden...

[Wolf]

What if he was assaulted and was defending himself until the Police arrived?

If he was defending himself, the "fight" should be well and truly over. First rule of self defence: "Never turn it into a fight".

"Fights" you can lose. The idea of self defense is to do what it takes to get out of the situation.

[zadok]

The definition of assault.
The application of force to the person of another, directly or indirectly. Or threatening to apply such force by act or gesture where the person believes on reasonbale grounds that the person threatening to apply such force has the present ability to do so.

See my post 19 June. Looks like Oz/N.Z law says pretty much the same.