Assault & Battery First, Second, or Third Degree
South Carolina divides the crime of Assault & Battery into several different “degrees.” Assault and battery is defined as the act of harming or attempting to harm an individual.
Assault & Battery, 3rd degree (Simple Assault) is codified in S.C. Code §16-3-600(E). A person commits the misdemeanor offense of assault and battery in the third degree if the person unlawfully injures another person, or offers or attempts to injure another person with the present ability to do so. Upon conviction, a person found guilty of assault and battery in the third degree must be fined not more than five hundred dollars, or imprisoned for not more than thirty days, or both.
Assault & Battery, 2nd degree is codified in S.C. Code §16-3-600(D). A person commits the misdemeanor offense of assault and battery in the second degree if the person unlawfully injures another person, or offers or attempts to injure another person with the present ability to do so, and causes moderate bodily injury to another person results or moderate bodily injury to another person could have resulted; or the act involves the non-consensual touching of the private parts of a person, either under or above clothing. Upon conviction, an individual found guilty of assault and battery in the second degree must be fined not more than two thousand five hundred dollars, or imprisoned for not more than three years, or both.
Assault & Battery, 1st degree is codified in S.C. Code §16-3-600(C). A person commits the felony offense of assault and battery in the first degree if the person unlawfully injures another person, and the act involves nonconsensual touching of the private parts of a person, either under or above clothing, with lewd and lascivious intent; or occurred during the commission of a robbery, burglary, kidnapping, or theft; or offers or attempts to injure another person with the present ability to do so, and the act is accomplished by means likely to produce death or great bodily injury; or occurred during the commission of a robbery, burglary, kidnapping, or theft. Upon conviction, an individual found guilty of assault and battery in the first degree is guilty of a felony and must be imprisoned for not more than ten years.
Additionally, Assault & Battery, 1st degree is a lesser-included offense of Assault & Battery of a High and Aggravated Nature (ABHAN) and Attempted Murder.