Thank you all (heh, even Monty) for your advice and kind words. This has been a real bitch to get through and it’s unfortunately not over yet.
I posted hoping to pick up an idea or two from y’all. You did not disappoint.
Obviously there are many things I can’t discuss yet. Maybe after this is all over I can come back and fill in. I’ll definately have a thing or two to clarify but please understand that I can’t as of yet.
Bill is of course pressing for the maximum penalty against me… drug & alcohol counseling even though there were absolutely none involved, 100s of hours of community service, payment for his medical bill and pain and suffering even though he had a pre-exising condition that made his rotton nose snap like a cracker, and (and this is the kicker) 6 days in prison.
There was nothing worse than having a guy threaten my family and then be taken away from them to jail, thus leaving them unprotected and next door to the person that just made the threat. They had to stay in a hotel that night until I could return. Police said the booking and time to release would take 3 to 4 hours. It took 14 largely in part because they forgot about me in the final release room, lost my records or something.
Last thing I want is for my family or I to have to go through that shit again.
Some excellent points were made here that I’ll look into, take to heart, employ, request, etc. Thank you all.
Unfortunately for you, in most jurisdictions, the fact that the victim of a battery was in a fragile condition and sustained more damage than might reasonably be predicted can’t be used to limit the damages (this has the colorful name of the “eggshell skull” plaintiff).
Good luck with your case today!
I don’t know whether anything in this post applies to your jurisdiction. I’m not your lawyer, and you’re not my client. Don’t come running to me if this turns out to be wrong for you.
Monty please try not to be so unpleasant, it does not make communicating with you easy, nor does it make you seem as intelligent as you obviously (reading your posts elsewhere) are. If you simply chose unpleasantness as a ‘handle’ on this board, then fine, you do it well. But if this unpleasantness is part of your real demeanor you might seek to reduce it as it does you a great disservice.
Just spoke with my attorney and he said regardless of which way it goes today, they won’t tell us until we go down Wednesday to begin the Jury selection.
I’m just curious and the point will be moot if we go to trial but I’ve paid my attorney twice… once for all the earlier motions and then another, larger amount to do the trial. What if it’s dropped? Can I expect to get some kind of a refund from him if we don’t actually have to go to trial?
We never discussed the possibility a trial might not be necessary before. He just told me his trial fee and I paid it in advance.
I suppose you already learned the hard way that you can’t hit people, no matter what they are saying to you.
There are other ways to deal with these people so that they are the ones who suffer, and not you and your family.
You have been through a terrible ordeal. I truly hope things go your way. Let’s just hope this ass does not file a civil suit against you after the criminal aspect is settled.
I don’t know about your lawyer, but with all that is involved in preparing for a trial I would not be expecting much, if any money refunded. It certainly does not hurt to ask though.
Lobelia did in fact hear about a real case (assuming that I am remembering the same one), but I seem to remember it differently. Perhaps there was more than one. I don’t remember all the facts (it was about 25 years ago) but I do remember that it involved an attempted rape in England and the would-be victim tossing a pot of boiling water onto her attackers penis. He sued and was awarded damages. I was still in school at the time and remember seeing this on the evening news.
Lieu, just be glad you live in Texas, bub. Your situation is exactly why the “he needed killin’” defense was invented.
Buy a handgun and get a license, somehow get this guy to take one step into your home, then do your civic duty and remove this asswart from the face of humanity.
(BTW, I am a lawyer, but the above does not constitute legal advice, and any reliance on it as such would be (obviously) completely unreasonable)
Dudes- let me make this clear- it is illegal to hit someone, or to take the law unto you own hands- no matter the cause or violations- unless it is “self-defense”.
Lieu did not hit the guy “in self defense”. That is why the DA is going on with a trial. Now- the neighbor was an asshole. He commited some serious threats. He commited “assault”. The proper response to this was to WALK AWAY & CALL THE POLICE. Sure- there were “mitigating factors”. But it wasn’t “self defense”- Lieu had no expectation that the guy was right then & there going to go over to his house & attack his child. Lieu hit first. “Tapping” is not “battery”. It is a “threat”- for which you… (wait for it)… call the Police.
If the Police won’t do anything- then you have options. Get a Writ of Mandamus, a restraining order, write your local politico & get him to call the Chief and have the Police act, sue the neighbor…well, all dorts of things. None of which include taking the law into your own hands & assaulting someone. If all these options fail- you STILL don’t have the right to take the Law into your own hands. Move out.
Sure, lieu was wrong. And he has already paid a price, and he will find out if he will be subject to additional penalty.
And I know this is an unworkable proposition and no basis for living together in a society - BUT - IMO - Some people really deserve a good pop in the nose.
And by the way, Bill walking up to lieu with the tire iron could be considered an assault, tapping him in the chest was a battery.
Except that lieu walked up to Bill, which could also be assault. And picking up a tire iron could be a prelude to self-defense, since lieu came on to Bill’s property.
I really am not interested in your opinion, Bippy. The reason I say that is because you jumped in on me with the “read the thread” comment when it was quite evident that I had read it. What was extremely evident, given your comment to me, was that you hadn’t read my posting, which appear to be part of the whole thread. AFAIC, 'tis you who’ve perfected unpleasantness. I did make the mistake of not saying “going back” in front of “fetch” earlier; however, I really did think that meaning was evident, but that by no means shows that I hadn’t read the thread. Again, I’m not interested in your opinion.
Lieu went on to Bill’s property “to let him apologize”. There’s a damn fine line between that and demanding an apology. Bill was changing a tire, a good reason to have a tire iron in his hands.
And this gets me:
No mention of lieu getting angrier. Did he just punch him without any warning? Punch him in the nose to remove the tire iron?? Why not push it aside? Why not say, “Put that thing down?” If it was surreal, did he feel he was dealing with an insane person?
I hope lieu doesn’t testify. If he repeats what he said here, any decent prosecutor would rip him to shreds. In his second post lieu says:
Leui had lots of choices, he picked the worst, and handled everything terribly, including explaining everything to the cop who arrested him.
And in another instance of Things That Surprise No One, Monty overreacts and goes all apeshit-asshole on yet another set of innocent victims. Teelo has some good advice.
Yeah. Just so y’all know, this type of reaction from Monty is NOTHING NEW. Nothing new at all.
And I also want to add my support to lieu—of course it was foolish (but understandable) to pop the guy in the nose. He deserved it, but you shouldn’t have done it. But now you need to get through the rest of this ordeal. My good thoughts and prayers go out to you and your family.
I hope all is well.