R.I. Gen. Laws
Rhode Island General Laws

R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-5-3 (2026)

Simple assault or battery

✓ current as of July 2026
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(a) Except as otherwise provided in § 11-5-2, every person who shall make an assault or battery or both shall be imprisoned not exceeding one year or fined not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or both.

(b) Where the provisions of “The Domestic Violence Prevention Act”, chapter 29 of title 12, are applicable, the penalties for violation of this section shall also include the penalties as provided in § 12-29-5.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 69 cases (4 in the last 5 years), 1971–2025 · leading case: State v. Cardona, 969 A.2d 667 (R.I. 2009).
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State v. Cardona, 969 A.2d 667 (R.I. 2009). · cites it 9× “The defendant, Gerardo Cardona (defendant), was convicted by a jury in the Superior Court of two counts of domestic assault in violation of G.L. 1956 § 11-5-3 (simple assault or battery) and § 12-29-5 (disposition of domestic violence cases), against his wife, Catherine Cardona…”
Iacampo v. Hasbro, Inc., 929 F. Supp. 562 (D.R.I. 1996). · cites it 5× “R.I. Gen.Laws § 11-5-3 (1994) proscribes the commission of simple assault or battery upon a person.”
United States v. Castleman, 134 S. Ct. 1405 (2014). “21, § 642 (West 1991) ; R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-5-3 (Michie 1994); Va.”
State v. Albanese, 970 A.2d 1215 (R.I. 2009). · cites it 4× “The defendant, Joanne Albanese, appeals to this Court from a judgment of conviction after a Superior Court trial justice, sitting without a jury, found her guilty of battery in violation of G.L.1956 § 11-5-3. The defendant was sentenced to one year of probation, was ordered not…”
State v. Keith Harrison, 66 A.3d 432 (R.I. 2013). · cites it 3× “I Facts and Travel On February 8, 2011, a Providence County Superior Court jury found defendant Keith Harrison guilty of simple domestic assault in violation of G.L.1956 § 11-5-3 for head-butting his girlfriend, Cassandra Bey, during an argument in his studio apartment on May 6,…”
State v. Coningford, 901 A.2d 623 (R.I. 2006). · cites it 3× “See G.L.1956 § 11-5-3. He contends that the trial justice was wrong in ruling that defendant was not entitled to such instruction because he had not provided the court with written requests for jury instructions.”
State v. Ibrahim, 862 A.2d 787 (R.I. 2004). · cites it 2× “The criminal information sheet contained a second count of assault and batteiy in violation of G.L. 1956 § 11-5-3. This count subsequently was dismissed, and the defendant was nied only on one count of second-degree child molestation sexual assault.”
State v. Hesford, 900 A.2d 1194 (R.I. 2006). · cites it 2× “The trial justice instructed the jurors on the three charges against defendant: (1) simple assault under G.L.1956 § 11-5-3 (count 1); (2) refusing to relinquish, damaging, or obstructing a telephone when one knows or should have known that it was needed for an emergency call…”
State v. Brown, 900 A.2d 1155 (R.I. 2006). · cites it 2× “1956 § 12-29-2 and two counts of simple assault in violation of § 11-5-3 and § 12-29-2. The defendant appeals his convictions, alleging that the trial justice erred when he permitted the state to present evidence of prior uncharged acts of domestic violence perpetrated by…”
State v. Texter, 923 A.2d 568 (R.I. 2007). · cites it 3× “1956 § 11-37-4, and one count of simple assault, in violation of G.L.1956 § 11-5-3. Following a hearing that resulted in the denial of the defendant’s pretrial motions to suppress (1) the out-of-court and the in-court identification of the defendant and (2) certain tangible…”
State v. Paul Fleck, 81 A.3d 1129 (R.I. 2014). · cites it 2× “The defendant, Paul Fleck, appeals to this Court from a judgment of conviction of one count of simple domestic assault against Kim Dolbec in violation of G.L. 1956 § 11-5-3 and G.L.1956 § 12-29-5.”
State v. Raymond A. Peltier, 116 A.3d 150 (R.I. 2015). · cites it 4× “The jury had the facts before it necessary to determine defendant’s guilt or innocence of simple assault, G.L. 1956 § 11-5-3, without being informed that defendant had not cooperated with the arresting officers.”
Show all 69 citing cases →
— R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-5-3(a) — 3 cases
Fenwick v. Oberman, 847 A.2d 852 (R.I. 2004).
State v. Milton Aponte (R.I. 2024).
State v. Milton Aponte (R.I. 2024).
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.