What should I do after being arrested for battery assault, even if I have witnesses that I didn't start it?

Erik B

Court is all about telling a story. It's not about the truth. It's about what the jury will believe. That this guy is a whole lot bigger than you is good in your favor. He sounds like a real winner and may not cooperate with the District Attorney. But, once the DA takes over, they have ways of making their "victims" stick to the first story the victim tells.

First, you'll be appointed a lawyer if you don't hire one. Public defenders are just as good as private ones and a lot less expensive. Private lawyers may blow sunshine up your rear end to get you to pay them lots of money and then sell you down the river and you'd never know whether they are telling the truth to you or not. Public defenders will, at least, most likely tell you the truth. And public defenders spend a lot more time in front of any particular judge than private attorneys do. Nevertheless, both have their agendas and some are really good, some kinda good, and some not so good, whether they are public or private attorneys. Discuss you case with your attorney. You'll hear a lot of advice from people who have been through the system and they sound knowledgeable, but are not at all. The attorneys knows the most.

Do not talk to any cops about this or to other people on the job.

Get your attorney to send an investigator to speak with your witnesses ASAP. Write down your list of witnesses (good and bad) and give the list to your attorney.

Your attorney will read the police report and get your side of the story. The police report will say what the police heard, but it is not evidence itself. Hopefully, the police wrote down your version the way you want it said. Often, police, either negligently or on purpose, rearrange your statement so that it looks like a confession. If that happens, you can almost be assured that the cops will recite your confession as stated in the report at trial. When it's the cops word against yours, you are likely sunk. But not always. What the report says the witnesses said cannot be used at trial unless the witnesses say something different than the cop remembers and the DA or you want to impeach the witness (to impeach means showing that the witness might be lying).

What about self-defense? In California, you have the right to stand your ground if you didn't start the fight. You do not have to retreat. So if you shoved the "victim", you started it. If you innocently ran into the victim and the victim punched you, you have the right to defend yourself and the right to stand your ground during the fight and not retreat.

There is some question about whether self-defense is an affirmative defense or whether, once you bring it up, the DA has to prove that it wasn't self-defense. But that is academic. The burdens of proof mean little to a jury. The question is, once the evidence is out there, what does the jury believe and feel?

That said, please do not hear just what you want to hear from this. The law is the law, but the question is who is going to believe your version of the story. You certainly have a right not to retreat and to self-defense, but a jury might not believe the other guy threw the first punch. It depends on how they feel about you and the victim and the witnesses. Frankly, I would be horribly uncomfortable allowing my fate to be decided by 12 judgmental, fault-prone, biased human beings and all human beings are judgmental, fault-prone, and biased.

Hopefully, you are just charged with misdemeanor assault. If so, prison could never happen. But, if you go down on a felony, prison could be in your future (even if you get probation first). Some felonies can be reduced to misdemeanors later and even "expunged" from your record if you complete probation successfully. Misdemeanors can always be "expunged". Expungment means that it is removed from your record and you get to say it didn't happen.

Good luck.

Len_NJ

Unfortunately, it seems he is pressing charges against you. I suggest you speak with an attorney, and get your witnesses to prepare statements, or agree to appear in court on your behalf. Either way, they will need to make SWORN STATEMENTS prior to the trial (if it gets that far). I hope it works out for you.

Good Luck

nynameislying123

Get a lawyer.

Don't talk to the police. (If they want to, say, "I respectfully decline to answer that question on the grounds that it may tend to incriminate me and I want a lawyer").

Just because he started it, does not mean that you are not guilty

In fact, if the prosecution found this post and could link it back to you, they could use it to prove that you fought the guy;

democatUSA

take him to court

james r

well i know cali has different laws but one you might look at is "affray". fighting in public is against the law, unless you are "backed into a corner" and you have no choice and no other way out. looking at your story, from my experience as a police officer i would have arrested both of you.

utuseclocal483

File counter charge of assault and battery by swearing out in front of a Justice of the Peace -private complaint. Ensure witnesses will be available to testify in court. Contact a lawyer. Get written statements of all witnesses to event and have them sign in front of witness; have witness also sign. Hope you can still get pics of your injuries

joeanonymous

Plead not guilty. If your account of the story is true, it sounds like you have a good defence. Give the names of the witnesses to your lawyer and they will give evidence at you trial. If the judge believes them (and you) you will be found not guilty.

prince8814

just for future referance never make a statement. now what you should do is try to press charges of your own against him and usually you can work a deal out to have both of you drop charges. then catch that punk in a bar and rip his fu#king head off

days_o_work

I disagree about public defenders. I have showed up to court with a public defender before who didn't even read my case before our appearance And I have had a private lawyer who worked wonders on my behalf (From Felony Assault facing up to 4 years in prison plead down to misdemeanor assault,0 days prison, 0 days jail).

Lynn

write down everything you rember get witness names and address and have them write police statements. get a lowcost lawyer and discuss it with them give them the witness list they will need to talk with them before trial.

You can file suit in small claims court an maybe he will drop the charges if you drop your case.

getbyone

providing you told the truth in the story and dont have any other convictions,just hold your ground get some statement,and if you can get a witness too show up at court that would be great..when they pull you go to court look nice plead not guilty and wait the other guy may still back down,and will have to get a lawyer to prosucute as well as if you have any pic's of you after the event thesae will help..remmeber tell the truth in court,,lie at your own perill good luck..iv been here before

Eric

Go to court and find the case. I would recommend that you maybe get a lawyer to help you out though!

__________________________
Yahoo Answers Fan Club
http://www.myspace.com/yahooanswers

Wolfpacker

The police only take the complaint & arrest. In small cases everything else is handled by the DA. It is not small to you but it is to the police & DA. Get list of all witnesses & their addresses. When & if it goes to court take at least 2 witnesses that are not your friends with you. The court never believes friends testimonies. Good luck!

Asshat McPoop

"HE started it" is soooo elementary schoolish. Sorry, the adult world is a little different.

See, here's the irony.

If he punched you and you went down or baked off, he'd be in jail.

If he punched you 10 times and you punched him once after that, then you ARE going to be charged for assault.

Its not their job to get people to confirm the story. Its your job to bring the police to people who WILL confirm your story.

Best bet is to lawyer up if you can. If not, then note in court that you'd also like to press charges for his assault on you. If you can get ONE person to notarize a statement as such, then maybe then the other guy "might find it in his heart" to drop the charge in exhance for you dropping your charge.

Jake

Consult with an attorney who has experience with assault cases!

One Sexy Jeep Girl

Are you sure your witnesses told the cops that he (not you) started it?

shrty0525

You still assaulted him. Doesn't matter to police who started the fight. I'd be sure to get your story down on paper for the police.

AND notarized statements from the witnesses.

fr_chuck

merely self defense is not always a defense to an assult charge, if you could have ran away instead of fighting, you can still be charged for fighting back, even if someone else started it.

SGT. D

Move to the East Coast. I hear the Police are the greatest there.

krissy

Does it really matter who started it??

ndmac

Get some cigarettes. I hear you can trade them in prison.

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment: