So I'm being charged with assault

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SlushboxTeggy

It's only stupid if it doesn't work
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Here's the story. End of January at a party a girl comes up to me and says this kid Jeff is being really creepy. I look over and he's definitely hammered but I don't see him doing anything wrong. I ask a few people and there is a general dislike of him from girls and guys alike. So I walk up to him and say he has to leave. Nothing threatening just, "Hey bro, you're a little too drunk and you're rubbing a few people the wrong way. You need to leave for the night, just sleep it off and come back tomorrow." He says he just wants one more beer, blah, blah, blah. I explain to him, still calmly, that this is not negotiable, he needs to go. After about twenty minutes of this, and me stopping two different friends from throwing drunken hay makers, he agrees to leave.

He walks out our back door so I follow just to make sure he is in fact leaving. Well he gets to the end of the driveway and bolts into the house next door (friends live there to) as if I wouldn't see him. I walk in through their back door and he sees me down the hallway and turns and goes right back out the door. I follow and see him kneeling/hiding behind the railing at the bottom of the steps of the first house. I say, still calm for some reason, "Jeff, I see you. Just go home bro." I walk down the steps and he comes at me and throws a punch.

He missed, my left didn't. He fell to the ground and I pretty much had him in a full mount. I say again that he needs to just go home. He then proceeds to put his hands around my neck. So I hit him a few more times, stopping in between to tell him he should just go home. At this point I have hit him in total 5-7 times. I get frustrated and just get off him and tell him to leave. He crosses the street to "get his boys" as he put it. The only problem was that our neighbors across the street are old people, he doesn't know them. At this point we have called the police. He rooting around on their front porch but it's dark so we can't really see what he's doing.

He starts to come back across the street and I yell out, "Jeff, the cops are on the way and if you step back on our property you're going to get hit again." At this point he's coming at me with a good head of steam and just as I said the second his foot touched our lawn I threw a haymaker. He went stiff as a board and fell back onto the pavement unconscious.

At this point I walked back in the house and told the people watching to get me when the cops get there. I had a nasty gash across my knuckle that needed attention. Luckily one of the chicks that was there was a nurse.

Cops come, I tell him the same story I just wrote. He's conscious now and being an ass to the cops who are just trying to help him. Finally one of the cops restrains him. Then he turns his head, spits blood on another cop's shoe, looks at the cop, and says, "There's blood on your shoe.." Needless to say the cops then arrest him and toss him in the back of the car.

Since then I have seen the kid twice. Didn't speak to him but he was really bruised up and I heard that he received stitches in four places and then required surgery because the stitches got infected. I genuinely felt bad.

I hadn't heard anything else about it until today when my roommate wakes my hungover ass up with, "Steve, have you done anything illegal recently? You have a letter from the Gloucester county courts." I have another friend read it while I'm still in bed and he turns to me and says, "Dude, you're being charged with assault..."

"within the jurisdiction of this court, commit assault by purposely, knowingly, or recklessly causing bodily injury to (Jeff XXXXX) specifically by hitting him in the face. he was told to leave and did not. Mr. XXXXX does not remember what took place."

"you are hereby summoned to appear before this court to answer this complaint. if you fail to appear on the date and time stated, a warrant will be issued for your arrest."

So my question to those who may know more on the subject than I, is this serious? It says on the complaint that he doesn't remember what happened and that he was asked to leave and did not. So am I being charged because of hear say? And where should I go from here? I have friends saying lawyer up, just go to the court date, file a counter suit for assault and trespassing, or file a counter suit for what his face did to your hand.

What should I do? I do not want to waste my time and my money on this. It's the last semester of my Senior year at Rowan, I have very little of both. And by very little I mean it's stretched too thin already. So what do you guys think?

I changed his name BTW.
 
You should be fine dude. If everyone else at the party testifies for you they won't do anything.
 
if everything you wrote is true, he really has no case he did swing the first punch after all and he did trespass after being told to stay off the property, and since he "doesn't remember" I see this as a simple waste of his and your time. Just whatever you do don't skip the court date thats about the only way I see you getting anything for this.
 
Yea just remember you didn't do like me and just walk up to some guy and stick him right in the jaw and start beating his ass :). And you're not in Texas we got some FUCKED up assault laws here.
 
if everything you wrote is true, he really has no case he did swing the first punch after all and he did trespass after being told to stay off the property, and since he "doesn't remember" I see this as a simple waste of his and your time. Just whatever you do don't skip the court date thats about the only way I see you getting anything for this.
I've thrown the first punch once in my life. I don't start them, I end them. As far as court goes, should I get a lawyer? Is there a way to get it dismissed before I have to actually go? Is there a way to get out of this with my wallet untouched?
 
i'd go to the court date; you're going to have to say 'not guilty' and then they'll set another court date. there's pretty much no way out of the first court date, and if you don't say 'not guilty' then you agree to the charges (which you don't).

the only good news i have for you is that the guy pressing charges has to be present or else the case is dismissed. so as much time as this is going to take of yours, it's going to take of his too.

if the guy keeps the charges against you and shows up at hearing #2, you'll want to bring a witness along with and ask to speak to the prosecuting attorney prior to the hearing; explain what happened and that you brought a witness with you and have access to more. the attorney is all about making things plain and easy for the judge.

it'll probably be a good idea to do some quick research on your state's assault laws; it should be in relatively plain english what constitutes right to defend self/others/property. you'll want to clearly express the fact that every action of yours was a defensive result of an aggressive action on his part. you'll also want to make it clear how intoxicated and uncooperative the guy was when asked to leave. trespassing is pretty big stuff.

other than being pretty successful at f!cking this guy up, i don't see that you did anything wrong here. but you have to realize the justice system needs to ensure that the guy's rights weren't violated (and they weren't, in my non-expert opinion).

if the guy's a real dick, you may see a civil suit out of this (i.e. you might be getting sued, too). He's in "somebody else should have to pay for what they did to me" mode. He obviously isn't willing to take responsibility for what he can't remember.

:shrug2:
 
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Aggravated Assault is a serious charge usually involving serious bodily injury on purpose, and/or with indifference to human life, or using a deadly/dangerous weapon with intent to cause bodily harm. A deadly weapon could be a gun, knife, or other dangerous object, or even a car or other vehicle. Aggravated assault is also charged in cases of setting a fire or explosion which causes bodily injury.
Aggravated Assault with serious injury is considered a Second Degree Crime, with a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in state prison.
Simple Assault is a charge that falls in the category of knowingly or negligently causing bodily harm, or putting a person in fear of bodily harm. It is the least serious assault offenses, and is usually charged in cases of fights or minor injuries. which as a maximum penalty of 6 months in jail and/or a $1000 fine.

Simple Assault is considered a disorderly persons offense, which has a maximum penalty of 6 months in jail and/or a $1000 fine.
Googled it
 
By mounting and continuing to hit him, you went far past self defense and ensured continued conflict. You're allowed to block and counter one time.

Leave MMA inside the ring.
I was simply holding him down until he started to choke me.
 
i'd go to the court date; you're going to have to say 'not guilty' and then they'll set another court date. there's pretty much no way out of the first court date, and if you don't say 'not guilty' then you agree to the charges (which you don't).

the only good news i have for you is that the guy pressing charges has to be present or else the case is dismissed. so as much time as this is going to take of yours, it's going to take of his too.

if the guy keeps the charges against you and shows up at hearing #2, you'll want to bring a witness along with and ask to speak to the prosecuting attorney prior to the hearing; explain what happened and that you brought a witness with you and have access to more. the attorney is all about making things plain and easy for the judge.

it'll probably be a good idea to do some quick research on your state's assault laws; it should be in relatively plain english what constitutes right to defend self/others/property. you'll want to clearly express the fact that every action of yours was a defensive result of an aggressive action on his part. you'll also want to make it clear how intoxicated and uncooperative the guy was when asked to leave. trespassing is pretty big stuff.

other than being pretty successful at f!cking this guy up, i don't see that you did anything wrong here. but you have to realize the justice system needs to ensure that the guy's rights weren't violated (and they weren't, in my non-expert opinion).

if the guy's a real dick, you may see a civil suit out of this (i.e. you might be getting sued, too). He's in "somebody else should have to pay for what they did to me" mode. He obviously isn't willing to take responsibility for what he can't remember.

:shrug2:
:concur:
 
eh, i'm a fan of the dick beatdown. if someone doesn't get the damn message after a time or two, i can't say i'd have done it different. though i'd have tried the closed door thing. but this guy was determined. and if he'd have tried reentering, i'd a rocked his ass too. and i'm a girl :D
 
Lawer UP!!!! JESUS CHRIST who knows what shit can happen. even IF what u say is true, this is the REAL world! Protect yourself!!!!
 
First I've heard of an arrest through the fuckign mail. Call the police station and find out if its true.
 
Public defenders aren't that much of a joke. I mean... they're not the best and it costed me a little over $100 for one.
I've been charged with Battery and Assault. To me it sounds like you have a solid story as long as you have witnesses. Besides, if he told the court and had it recorded that he "does not remember what took place", then you're doing better already. It's not like he can really be like "that didn't fucking happen" without contradicting himself, you know?
He's an idiot for saying he can't remember just to get himself out of trouble because now his options are limited.
I think you'll do fine.
 
First I've heard of an arrest through the fuckign mail. Call the police station and find out if its true.
it's not really an arrest. it's a subpoena to appear in court for charges.

if you don't handle this right, you could be fucked.

here's what you should do.

1) get a copy of the police report. it will have copies of the signed statements from the event.

2) get two written statements saying it was self defense and the guy was drunk. build your case for yourself.

3) schedule an appointment with the prosecutor if you can. take your evidence and request a dismissal.

4) if no dismissal or meeting with PA, go to your hearing. if you don't go, you will get what is called a "bench warrant". if you get stopped for speeding or whatnot, you will get arrested, but the cops wont actually look for you. take in all of your evidence and show it to the judge and PA.

Don't worry about getting a lawyer until it gets to an actually trial. there are several pre-trial hearing where evidence is submitted and all that bullshit. you will know when it's time to get an attorney. but for now, don't. unless it's free.
 
I have a professor I'm close with that is also a lawyer. I'm going to talk to him Monday or Tuesday.

And Blanco, not saying what I did was right but, this fight did not start and end in 30 seconds. It took a few minutes with all the starting and stopping. Like I said, when I was holding him down I repeated myself over and over again in between EVERY punch. I kept telling him that he just needs to go home. I wasn't even using my full force until that last shot. At that point I didn't know if he had grabbed something from across the street and I wasn't going to wait and find out.
 
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