united-states civil-procedure summary-judgment
Under what circumstances is summary judgment or an expedited trial granted?
<p>From what I understand, a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summary_judgment" rel="nofollow noreferrer">summary judgment</a> is granted by a judge if the facts are not in dispute. So what is the threshold for this?</p>
<p>Example: A hits B, and B sues for assault and battery. During the discovery/deposition process, A admits to hitting B, and also admits to having been drunk at the time. The extent of B's injuries is established by medical records. The only unresolved issue is that A disclaims intent (pleading drunkenness), which might make it a criminal, rather than civil, matter.</p>
<p>Can there be a summary judgment, or at least an expedited or abbreviated trial based only on the established facts? In this instance, can there be a civil summary judgment given the agreement of both parties to the facts, if A waives a criminal trial?</p>

<p>In the U.S. From Wikipedia - </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>"Summary judgment in the United States applies only in civil cases. It
  does not apply to criminal cases to obtain a pretrial judgment of
  conviction or acquittal, in part because a criminal defendant has a
  constitutional right to a jury trial."</p>
</blockquote>

<p>So it would not apply in the assault and battery example.</p>

<p>As you say, the state of the facts also come in to summary judgment, not just the law -
"</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>A party seeking summary judgment (or making any other motion) is
  called the movant (usually, this is defendant); the opposing party is
  the nonmovant (usually, plaintiff). Per Rule 56(a), issuance of
  summary judgment can be based only upon the court's finding that,
  both:</p>
  
  <ol>
  <li><p>there exists no disputed genuine issue of material fact between the parties requiring a trial to resolve; and </p></li>
  <li><p>in applying the law to the (undisputed) facts, one party is clearly entitled by law to judgment."</p></li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>
