## Facts

- Winston Perez Hernandez attended a World Cup viewing party at Alimamy Tarawallie’s apartment with others present.
- After the match, Hernandez teased Tarawallie and repeatedly touched or poked him while talking.
- Tarawallie told Hernandez not to touch him, but the trial court found Hernandez intentionally poked Tarawallie again despite the warning.
- After the renewed contact, Tarawallie struck Hernandez and the two fell and scuffled.
- Hernandez was charged and prosecuted for simple assault based on the intentional poking (not for weapon use or causing bodily injury).

## Issues

1. Whether District of Columbia common-law simple assault includes an intentional, nonsexual, offensive touching accomplished with minimal force.
2. Whether proof of “force or violence” requires more than intentional, nonconsensual contact that a reasonable person would find offensive.

## Decision

- The District of Columbia Court of Appeals (en banc) affirmed Hernandez’s bench-trial conviction for simple assault.
- The court held that D.C. common-law assault includes battery by offensive touching and does not require significant physical force, injury, or sexual contact.
- The court concluded the evidence was sufficient because Hernandez intentionally made nonconsensual contact after being explicitly told not to touch Tarawallie and the trial judge found the contact objectively offensive.
- The en banc court rejected the earlier panel’s narrower interpretation that would have required a more robust showing of “force or violence.”

## Legal Principles

- In the District of Columbia, common-law simple assault encompasses battery, including intentional, nonconsensual offensive touching.
- The “force” element for battery may be satisfied by minimal physical contact when the contact is intentional and objectively offensive to a reasonable sense of personal dignity.
- Not every trivial contact is criminal; the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt the defendant’s intent and that the contact, in context, would be offensive to a reasonable person.
- References in precedent to “force or violence” are legal terms that can include slight unlawful touchings and do not necessarily require serious physical aggression or injury.

## Conclusion

The en banc court affirmed a simple-assault conviction based on intentional poking after an explicit warning, holding that D.C. common law permits criminal liability for minimal, nonsexual, noninjurious contact when it is nonconsensual and objectively offensive.


Hernandez v. United States, 286 A.3d 990 (D.C. 2022)