QUESTION
15 years old. got in a fight, injured opponent, he started the altercation, can i argue self defense question?
Asked on Feb 21st, 2014 on Criminal Law - Virginia
More details to this question:
ok ill try to add as much detail into this as i can. first i was NOT the aggressor in this fight. i tried to get away. i asked him several times to stop. he did not and began to push me and get extremely close to me. he did throw the first punch. we were about evenly matched. i have had some martial arts training via my military family and my muay thai uncle. nothing official, and no record of any of the training. he threw a wide right, i caught it. twisted his arm in a way that his body forced him to bend over. my left hand holding his wrist and the blade of my forearm along his elbow and lower tricep. i put my full weight on his arm and it snapped. the reason for this was because he was struggling and was becoming very hard to control. my adrenaline was through the roof and i couldnt think, i was a bit afraid his buddy was going to join in. so i broke it. my family is trying to talk his family. but they are taking us to court. what can i face?
1 ANSWER
1 Award
Sounds like self-defense to me. What you face will depend on what you are charged with. I would assume the charge would be simple Assault and Battery under Virginia Code § 18.2-57, which is a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in prison or a $2,500 fine or both. It's possible you could be charged with malicious wounding under Virginia Code § 18.2-51.2, which is a Class 2 felony, but I don't think the injury is severe enough to warrant that. In any event, the question is what witnesses you have to corroborate your account of the events. It sounds like he had a witness there who will probably back up his side of the story. Unfortunately, since he is the one who ultimately got injured, people will usually assume you were the aggressor and not realize that he provoked it.
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Answered on Feb 22nd, 2014 at 3:51 PM