Best of luck, lieu. BTW, considering your neighbor sounds like a total asshole, it might be worth an investment in some kind of armament.
p.s. Oh, and yet another good reason I’m not on that jury.
I play cricket, so I just might’ve gone back to my house and fetched my bat. {Imagine, if you will, Crocodile Dundee saying, "That ain’t no bat. This is a bat.}
Also imagine, if you will, Crocodile Dundee putting a closing quotation mark on that quote. :smack:
Monty read the whole OP.
[B}lieu** did not hit the guy until after he said
“Not only did he say it was all my 16 month old’s fault but that she and my wife were legitimate targets since I let my pine needles fall on his driveway.”
That was a direct verbal threat agianst both lieu’s wife and his daughter.
Now undoubtedly there were ways that the confrontation could have turned out better. There are ways in which what lieu did could be considered excessive. But that is no reason to attack lieu.
Cheers, Bippy
Monty & I are in complete agreement- and I’d say we both read the entire thread. A “verbal” threat is no reason to resort to a physical assault. It is a reason to walk out & call the Police.
Good lord, no, that is the absolute last thing this situation needs. If it gets bad enough, lieu has said he is willing to move, and that is the best thing that he could do with this.
(Bippy, I did read the whole thread, and I don’t think punching was warranted either. In my opinion, that is a moot point, though. Done is done, and I hope lieu can get past this and on with his life soon.)
I am with Monty and DrDeth on this one.
Yes, the neighbour is a complete and utter asshole. He should definitely have to suffer some consequences in civil court (at the very least) for the campaign of harassment and general annoyance that he has launched against the neighbourhood.
No, a punch to the face is not a reasonable reaction to a verbal threat. This is why we have police officers.
I know that it is instinctual to protect the women and the young 'uns. But not following our instincts is what seperates us from ocelots and boa constrictors and whatnot.
If you ever cofront this guy face-to-face again, bring a witness. That cop across the street is best. Another neighbor is good. A family member, if at a safe distance, is not the best option. A mini tape recorder is better than nothing at all.
I would argue back that a punch to the face is reasonable, but not legal. In the same way that it would in my mind be reasonable for a coloured person to punch someone who had used racist language against them. But in all cases this is reasonable only “in the heat of the moment” and I call it reasonable as I see it as natural human reaction, not as considered and judged human action.
Of course this is taking only information from the OP and taking it as the complete truth.
Sorry about saying that the thread hadn’t been read, but I just saw the threat to wife and child as obvious and complete justification. I respect if you feel differently.
Cheers, Bippy
[law punchline to joke presented in thread title: The Court may finally force my neighbor to eat his own shit.
It must be an equitable remedy I’ve never heard of.
On the issue:
Overreacted? To being menaced and poked with a deadly weapon? A punch to the nose is, arguably, measured force in that situation. I’ll take that to court.
Carry on.
Sorry, monty & and Dr.Deth, but tapping a person in the chest with a tire iron is not a verbal threat.
If I’m on the jury, it’s hung or lieu walks.
Bippy: Go to Hell. I read the entire thread, and I also read all three of my postings in it. You apparently did not read all three of them.
There’s no proof of the tap to the chest; however, there is proof of the cracked nose.
Once the neighbour decided to inform lieu his family members are “legitimate targets” is when lieu should’ve gotten on the horn to the local cop shop.
Had you not been trying to read the thread through your sphincter, Bippy, you might’ve noticed that I didn’t say I wouldn’t’ve done the same thing. Matter of fact, I indicated that instead of hitting the neighbour, I quite likely would’ve used a serious bat.
What I’m saying is that lieu shouldn’t be surprised if he gets found guilty at trial. And it all could’ve been avoided had he called the police after the threat to his family, called the neighbour to ask WTF was up with “almost hitting,” or better yet, the other adult (Mrs. lieu) should’ve called the police to complain about the attempted assault.
I did not attack lieu. I merely pointed out where I stand on the issue.
& In case I did forget to mention this to you Bippy: Go to Hell.
For the love of pete, don’t do anything to egg on this guy. He’s a nutcase. You’ve been baited once. Don’t let it happen again. Consider it a $7000+ lesson. (And that doesn’t include the likelihood that he’s going to sue you in civil court for pain and suffering. Hope your homeowners’ insurance was paid up.)
It goes without saying that you shouldn’t let WeeLieu go near his house.
It gripes my ass to hear your story, lieu. Sometimes the judicial system sucks. It protects assholes. If it’s any consolation it’s my personal experience that people like this rarely stick around for long. They want to spread their misery around as much as possible.
Good luck to you. Even if you’re found guilty of a&b, the judge may well impose community service or something like that.
I think he realizes that punching the guy wasn’t such a hot idea. However, this neighbor tried to RUN DOWN HIS DAUGHTER!!!
Sheesh! He basically threatened to kill the guy’s family!
Then that’s what he should have his lawyer argue as a mitigating factor, Guin. It doesn’t excuse going over to the neighbour’s place to initiate a confrontation.
Even more reason for Mrs. lieu to have called the cops.
Best of luck, lieu. Let’s hope that soon, the biggest worry on your mind is wether an SDMB moderator thinks you latest poop thread is worth closing. 
Honestly man, this sucks. Hitting your neighbour was not a smart move, and possibly wrong on a moral level… but I understand your frustration. Let’s hope it turns out well, and let’s hope your life will be peaceful again soon.
I understand why you pulled the last thread (which I didn’t see).
I have no clue why you started this one, since there is a criminal case still pending. It seems to me you may have made an admission to a crime, though IANALawyer.
I would suggest you pull the plug on this thread, and do your sharing AFTER the criminal case has been resolved. You have one BIG advantage over him in the trial. You don’t have to testify, and he almost certainly does. I suggest you spend some time with your lawyer discussing how to bait your fruitcake neighbor, so he will demonstrate some of that nuttiness to the jury.
And I suggest you do no more testifying HERE.
I really don’t mean to cause offense or to judge you. I just can imagine more negative outcomes from this thread than positive ones.
Nonsense. Verbal testimony is perfectly good evidence of a tap to the chest with a tire iron. The jury is free to evaluate the credibility of the witnesses and determine whether that verbal testimony is accurate, and whether it formed a valid predicate to the affirmative defense of self-defense.
Indeed. Which is why this thread is STILL a bad idea, lieu.
I’d like to make one more point. The title of your thread indicates a real misunderstanding of what is possible at this trial.
YOU are on trial, not him. No one, except possibly your lawyer, is going to make him eat his own words. And that is by no means certain. It is a legal impossibility that the trial will end with HIM being punished, only you are in danger in that courtroom.
The soldarity of your neighbors is no doubt welcome and appreciated, but don’t let it lead you to imagine that you have a slam-dunk, or that he’s on trial.
Take care.
lieu, are you absolutely sure that its not Monty who lives next to you? Look at the way he attacked Bippy, who had responded so politely to him.