QUESTION
How to defend against an aggravated battery charge in a bar fight in Illinois?
Asked on Feb 05th, 2020 on Criminal Law - Illinois
More details to this question:
My boyfriend lives in Illinois Where he got arrested for getting into a fight at a bar and was charged with felony aggravated battery. But he only hit the guy one time. Only one punch and they are saying that he broke his jaw and knocked out all his teeth and had to go to the hospital and get emergency surgery. But my boyfriend knows a guy that works with him and said he was at work the very next morning totally fine. Can we go and possibly video record this guy as proof that he’s not injured like they say? Plus my boyfriend just moved to London Mills, Illinois an extremely small tiny town from San Diego, California and wasn’t aware how harsh the laws are. Could that help in any way? What’s the best defense to use in his situation?
1 ANSWER
1 Award
If one goes into court with the defense that he only hit the guy one time, the answer to that will be that that was one time too many.
One does not get a free pass for hitting anyone so long as the number of hits is a low number.
It can be a defense to aggravated battery that.....if the guy was the first aggressor that your boyfriend was defending himself, but whether or not that's successful will depend on the facts of the case.
I would leave the interviewing of witnesses, including video of the witnesses to the attorney and his or her investigator. If you're following the guy around, you and your boyfriend could face witness intimidation charges. Such actions could also mean increasing your boyfriend's bond because one standard special condition of bond is no contact by the defendant or his friends/family with state witnesses. Your actions could be misinterpreted.
If your boyfriend doesn't have an attorney, he should call an experienced criminal defense attorney right away.
Good luck to you.
Answered on Feb 12th, 2020 at 6:24 PM