Rhode Island Assault and Battery Charges

Rhode Island charges assault and battery under two statutes. R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-5-3 covers simple assault or battery, or both. R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-5-2 covers felony assault.

Neither statute defines the two words. In general terms, an assault is an attempt or threat to hurt someone that puts that person in fear of being struck, and a battery is the unwanted physical contact itself.

A complaint can charge assault, battery, or both. The misdemeanor is the same whether or not the contact caused an injury. The Rhode Island Supreme Court has described simple assault as a general-intent crime. The prosecutor must show you intended the physical movement, not that you intended a particular harm. Serious harm does not have to result for a simple assault charge.

The charge becomes felony assault under § 11-5-2 in four situations. The assault or battery was made with a dangerous weapon. It was made with acid or another dangerous substance. It was made by fire. Or it resulted in serious bodily injury.

Rhode Island sorts crimes by the possible sentence. Under R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-1-2, an offense punishable by more than one year or a fine over $1,000 is a felony. An offense punishable by up to one year or up to $1,000 is a misdemeanor. Simple assault sits exactly at the misdemeanor line.

The maximum sentences below come from the statutes. A judge decides the actual sentence within those limits. Your record, the injuries and the circumstances all matter.

Serious bodily injury has a specific definition in § 11-5-2(c). It means a physical injury that creates a substantial risk of death. It also covers protracted loss or impairment of the function of a bodily part, member or organ, and serious permanent disfigurement. The definition also includes an assault that ends a pregnancy. That applies when the person who committed it is not the pregnant person and knew or had reason to know of the pregnancy.

Bodily injury is a lower bar. Under § 11-5-2(e), it means a physical injury that causes physical pain, illness, or any impairment of physical condition. A felony assault with a dangerous weapon carries up to 6 years whether the injury was minor or there was no injury at all.

Both statutes add one more rule. When the Domestic Violence Prevention Act applies, the penalties in R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-29-5 apply on top of the assault penalty. The next section explains them.

Rhode Island does not have a separate crime called domestic assault. Instead, R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-29-2 lists crimes that count as domestic violence when one family or household member commits them against another. Simple assault under § 11-5-3 and felony assaults under chapter 5 of title 11 are both on the list.

A family or household member is defined in § 12-29-2(b). It means a spouse or former spouse, or an adult relative by blood or marriage. It includes an adult who lives with you now or lived with you in the past three years. It includes a person with whom you have a child. It also includes a person you have dated or been engaged to in the past year. For dating relationships, the court looks at the length of the relationship, its type, and how often the two people interacted.

If the complaint carries a domestic violence designation, § 12-29-5 adds these consequences to the assault penalty:

A domestic violence arrest also brings a no-contact order. Under R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-29-4, you cannot be released before arraignment without first appearing before the court or a bail commissioner. Whoever authorizes release must issue a no-contact order, and a willful violation of that order is a separate misdemeanor. Our page on Rhode Island no-contact order violations explains the order, and our Rhode Island domestic violence defense page covers the designation in more depth.

Simple assault is a misdemeanor, so the case is arraigned and heard in the Rhode Island District Court. Providence County cases are heard at the Garrahy Judicial Complex at 1 Dorrance Plaza in Providence. Kent County cases go to the Noel Judicial Complex in Warwick. Washington County cases go to the McGrath Judicial Complex in Wakefield, and Newport County cases to the Murray Judicial Complex.

Felony assault is prosecuted in the Rhode Island Superior Court. In Providence, that is the Licht Judicial Complex at 250 Benefit Street. The Rhode Island Judiciary's criminal case process chart separates the misdemeanor path from the felony charging path, and the two move on different schedules.

1. Arrest or summons. Some people are arrested at the scene. Others receive a summons with a court date. Either way, the complaint lists the statute charged and whether the case carries a domestic violence designation.
2. Release and bail. In a domestic violence case you must appear before the court or a bail commissioner before release, and a no-contact order issues (§ 12-29-4). In other cases, release conditions are set at or before arraignment.
3. Arraignment. The charge is read, you enter a plea, and the court sets bail and conditions. Our guide to what happens at an arraignment in Providence walks through the day.
4. Pretrial conference. The prosecutor and the defense exchange evidence and discuss whether the case can be resolved. Motions to suppress statements or evidence are filed in this period.
5. Trial or disposition. A misdemeanor not-guilty plea can lead to a pretrial conference and a trial before a District Court judge. Felony cases are tried in the Superior Court.

Bring every paper you received to the first meeting, including the complaint, the release papers and any no-contact order. Our post on Rhode Island assault and battery court papers lists what to gather and how to organize it.

An assault case usually turns on a short event described by people with different views of it. The defense starts by testing each piece of the account.

The charge level matters as much as guilt. The defense examines whether an object really was a dangerous weapon as it was used, and whether an injury meets the statutory definition of serious bodily injury. Those questions decide whether the case is a misdemeanor in the District Court or a felony in the Superior Court.

An assault case can end in several ways short of a conviction after trial.

Dismissal. The prosecutor may dismiss the case when the evidence is weak, a witness is unavailable, or a motion succeeds. Cases dismissed under District Court Rule 48(a) on or after January 1, 2023 are sealed automatically 10 to 20 days after the dismissal (R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-1-12.1).

Filing. Under R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-10-12, a District Court or Superior Court judge may place a complaint on file for a set period. The period cannot be longer than the maximum jail sentence for the charge. A filing is not available for a felony complaint, for a person with a prior felony conviction, or for a private complaint. During the period you must keep the peace, be of good behavior and pay any court-imposed costs. If no violation is found, the complaint is expunged automatically and no criminal record results. A guilty plea can still be used in a civil lawsuit about the same event.

Domestic violence filings are different. The filing is conditioned on keeping the peace for three years. The records cannot be expunged or sealed for three years from the filing date (§ 12-29-4(d), § 12-1-12(c)). The batterer's program and the $125 assessment apply to a filing on a nolo contendere plea.

Plea. A plea to the charge, or to a reduced charge, with an agreed sentence.

Trial. A judge or jury decides whether the state proved each element of the charge beyond a reasonable doubt.

Our post on Rhode Island criminal filing conditions and records explains the filing in more detail.

A simple assault conviction is a misdemeanor on your record. Under R.I. Gen. Laws § 12-1.3-2, a first offender may ask the court to expunge a misdemeanor conviction five years after completing the sentence. A felony conviction can be expunged ten years after. All fines, fees and costs must be paid first.

Simple assault under § 11-5-3 is not on the list of crimes of violence in § 12-1.3-1 that can never be expunged. That list includes assault with intent to murder, to rob, or to commit first-degree sexual assault. A domestic violence conviction cannot be expunged under the multiple-misdemeanor rule in § 12-1.3-2(b).

Our Rhode Island expungement page explains eligibility, the waiting periods and the hearing.