Donaldson v. State

Citations

• 10 Tex. Ct. App. 307

Syllabus

<p>1. Assault and Battery. — To constitute an assault and battery, the intent to injure must concur with the use of unlawful violence upon the person of the assaulted party; but the slightest degree of force suffices to constitute the violence, and the intended injury may be to the feelings or the mind of the latter as well as to the corporeal person. If such injury would be the natural consequence of the violence used, the unlawful intent is presumed unless the presumption is repelled by the evidence.</p> <p>2. Same—Evidence.— If in a prosecution for assault and battery the intent imputed to the accused was to injure the mind or the feelings of the assaulted party, the evidence germane to the existence of the intent may well involve the character of the assaulted party, and the surrounding circumstances:—e. g., if the battery consisted in manipulating a woman without her consent, and the intent imputed was to obtain sexual knowledge of her, proof of previous illicit intercourse between the parties, or evidence that she was a public prostitute, is legitimate for the defense as tending to disprove the imputed intent, and thus bearing directly on the issue.</p> <p>8. Same.— In the case above indicated the defense was entitled to require the woman herself, though married, to answer whether there had been acts of sexual intercourse between her and the defendant prior to the alleged assault.</p>