What is court going to be like?

At work, a girl was patting me down. She said she was looking for her phone, which was a very large iPhone that couldn't have possibly been in my back pocket. When she got to the point that she was touching my but, i turned and slapped her. I didn't hit her hard and she walked away laughing. She later found her phone on a desk somewhere else.

A few weeks later the police arrest me at work, fingerprint and photograph me, and give me a court date. I told them what happened and they said the charges will likely be dropped once I explain the situation to the judge. I also tried to talk with the girl about it but she said she doesn't want to get involved.

But what is court going to be like? I'm 19 and don't have any family or money really, should I have a lawyer?

I'm being charged with battery but I don't know what that means because I only defended myself. Will there be a trial like on TV or anything?

Is it likely that the charges will be dropped? Will I have the chance to tell the judge what really happened if I plead guilty? I'm really nervous about this.

First- maybe the fact that you call women you work with "girls" has something to do with this. Second, you do not have the right to hit someone. You were not defending yourself because she was no physical threat to you. When she started patting you down, all you had to do was walk away. You are only allowed to hit to defend yourself when you are in immediate physical danger and hitting is the only way to get the person to stop. You could easily have just grabbed her hands to stop her. So go to court, tell what happened, but don't claim you were in the right. Say that you made a mistake hitting her, but you were startled and it was an involuntary reaction. It will go over much better with the job than your claim that you had to hit a smaller, weaker person who was just patting you.

To you agree to let her pat you down to see if you stole her phone? If so, then she didn't do anything wrong by patting you down and your reaction would likely be considered unwarranted. If you did not consent to her patting you down, then you could make a claim that you acted in self defense. Whether you actions could be considered self defense would depend on more factors than you could go into on here.

If you can't afford an attorney, the court should appoint a public defender to represent you. Public defenders can be hit & miss. Unfortunately, they're often overworked and as a result and only provide a limited defense.

If you plead guilty, that would mean that you agree that what you did was wrong and are willing to accept the punishment that the court deals you. You would only be able to tell the judge what really happened as long as it doesn't conflict with your claim that you are guilty.

Pleading guilty is often not the best course of action unless it's part of an agreeable plea bargain you've made with the prosecutor or if you feel that it will help assuage your guilty conscience.

Having a lawyer represent you would give you the greatest chance that the charges would be dropped. Your chances of being able to talk your way out of it are about the same chances that a snowball would have in hell. If you talk with the prosecutor, all you would be doing is proving them more evidence to use against you in court.