Battery

MBE fact patterns love the delayed or indirect contact — D sets a trap, poisons food, or yanks a chair, and P is hurt seconds or hours later. Battery covers any force D sets in motion; the contact need not be direct or instantaneous, so it beats assault here because P often never sees it coming. Watch the single-intent vs. dual-intent split: the majority (and the Restatement (Third)) require only intent to make the contact, not intent that it be harmful or offensive — a minority “dual-intent” line, e.g. White v. Muniz, demands both, but pick single-intent on the MBE.

The classic trap is choosing assault when no apprehension exists: a sleeping or unaware plaintiff can be battered but never assaulted. Mind the transferred-intent overlap too — intent to commit assault that ripens into contact still grounds battery. And keep battery off land: an object you send onto another’s realty is trespass to land, not battery, because battery protects the body, not the ground. Hook: assault is the threat, battery is the touch.