Dennis Rodman may have committed assault and battery in Las Vegas
Last week, former Hard Rock Hotel employee Sara Ure won a $250,000 judgment against NBA star Dennis Rodman after he neglected to respond to a lawsuit for tortious assault and battery in Nevada. According to papers filed, in 2006 Ms. Ure was working as a beverage manager in the hotel when Rodman grabbed her, forced her to dance with him, rubbed his body against hers, and slapped her backside.
Although it seems Rodman was never arrested for this incident, Rodman’s alleged behaviors arguably fit the definition of Nevada criminal battery (NRS 200.481), which is the unlawful use of force on someone’s body, as well as the definition of Nevada criminal assault (NRS 200.471), which is putting another in reasonable fear of immediate bodily harm. “If Rodman were arrested for this incident,” according to Nevada criminal defense attorney Mike Becker, “he might have been able to raise some good criminal defenses to assault and battery in Nevada:”
First of all, Rodman could have tried to argue the intent defense for battery in Nevada—that he lacked any purpose to use unlawful force on Mrs. Ure's body. He also could have attempted to argue that merely dancing suggestively with Mrs. Ure does not meet Nevada’s assault definition of putting someone in "reasonable apprehension of immediate bodily harm." In addition, Rodman might even have tried to pull the Nevada consent defense for assault and battery—that he believed Mrs. Ure gave every indication that she wanted to dance with him, or that it was “common practice” for hotel beverage managers to dance with guests.
That Mrs. Ure sustained no bodily injuries in this incident is irrelevant in judging criminal guilt for assault and battery in Clark County. Certainly, a Clark County criminal judge may impose increased penalties for assault and battery in Las Vegas if serious bodily injuries are sustained. But since Ms. Ure’s only alleged injuries were “embarrassment, humiliation and anxiety,” Rodman probably would have received only the minimum Nevada punishment for assault and battery had he been found criminally liable. (A sentence for assault or battery in Las Vegas with no deadly weapon and no severe bodily injury is that of just a misdemeanor, penalized by up to six months in jail and/or $1,000 OR community service in lieu of jail and fines.)
