Parks v. State

SHEPARD,

Chief Justice, concurring in part and dissenting in part.

I cannot agree that the evidence is sufficient to support Parks’ battery conviction. Police officer Grose grabbed Parks around *173the neck, wrestled him to the ground and handcuffed him. While doing so, Grose suffered some cuts and scrapes on his left hand. He testified he did not know what caused them. The State cites this evidence as proof of battery.

A battery is something more than an inadvertent injury caused by a struggle during arrest. The law requires proof of an act of striking by the defendant. Mere body contact has not…