What Is Aggravated Battery Great Bodily Harm?

By: John Guidry II

There are quite a few charges that are called “aggravated battery” and we’re going to dive into one of those today. Its called “aggravated battery causing great bodily harm”. Its a serious accusation, a second degree felony. You’re facing a maximum of 15 years in prison. And, the charge is so serious the scoresheet makes a little bit of mandatory prison baked in.

The main question we want to ask on a situation like this is–what is ‘great bodily harm’ as opposed to some not-so-great bodily harm? Depending on the injury, we defense attorneys are going to question why isn’t this a misdemeanor battery or a felony battery? Why do we have to go all the way up to a prison friendly aggravated battery charge?

We’re going to tell you today where this line is drawn so you can figure out what it means to cause great bodily harm. There’s not whole books about this, but there are chapters and we’re going to break down a few examples.

So, a few years ago, a woman got shot with a stun gun. I hope this never happens to me, or to you, but this stun gun did cause her to fall to the ground, shake uncontrollably, massive amounts of pain. Possibly some foaming at the mouth, but maybe not. The point being, this was pretty serious. Lots of pain.

The shooter was charged and convicted of aggravated battery causing great bodily harm. Done. Over. But they appealed that conviction and that conviction was actually thrown out because the appellate court said, look, the victim didn’t require any sort of medical treatment. The stun gun pain had no lasting effect. And, I suppose the courts are not taking into account any sort of nightmares that would be created by this. They just considered the physical with no lasting damage.

If there is permanent damage, by the way, then you do have aggravated battery causing great bodily harm. That’s how you cross the threshold. Permanent damage. Let me give you another real life example.

We’ve got this guy Gordon, arrested and convicted of aggravated battery causing great bodily harm. he was accused of beating his girlfriend with a belt causing bruises everywhere. And the conviction though, the conviction was overturned because the bruises did not require any medical treatment–all the bruises fully healed.

So, if you have no serious bodily harm, you have no aggravated battery. Now, the charge could have been lowered to another battery (misdemeanor or felony?).

One more tough example here, real life. Juvenile stabs someone with a fork two or three times leaving swelling and puncture marks. Now, have we gotten to the point where we have an aggravated battery causing serious bodily harm? Nope.

His aggravated battery was thrown out because the injuries were not permanent. Yes, some stabbings of the fork, but everything healed up.

So, as you can see by these three examples, the severity of the injury and whether its permanent determines if you get this charge. Without lasting injury, a battery of this sort needs to be dropped down to a misdemeanor, needs to be dropped down to a felony battery. And, a felony battery is a tough line too. That will be a topic for another day.

About John Guidry II

John Guidry II is a seasoned criminal defense attorney and founder of the Law Firm of John P. Guidry II, P.A., located in downtown Orlando next to the Orange County Courthouse, where he has practiced for over 30 years. With more than three decades of experience defending clients throughout Central Florida since 1993, Guidry has successfully defended thousands of cases in Orange, Seminole, Osceola, Brevard, Lake, and Volusia counties. He has built a reputation for his strategic approach to criminal defense, focusing on pretrial motions and case dismissals rather than jury trials.

Guidry earned both his Juris Doctorate and Master of Business Administration from St. Louis University in 1993. He is a member of the Florida Bar and the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. His practice encompasses the full spectrum of Florida state criminal charges, with a particular emphasis on achieving favorable outcomes through thorough pretrial preparation and motion practice.

Beyond the courtroom, Guidry is a prolific legal educator who has authored over 400 articles on criminal defense topics. He shares his legal expertise through his popular YouTube channel, Instagram, and TikTok accounts, where he has built a substantial following of people eager to learn about the law. His educational content breaks down complex legal concepts into accessible information for the general public.

When not practicing law, Guidry enjoys tennis and pickleball, and loves to travel. Drawing from his background as a former recording studio owner and music video producer in the Orlando area, he brings a creative perspective to his legal practice and continues to apply his passion for video production to his educational content.