[Skipper]

I would like your opinion on this.

Almost three years ago we had an altercation at my parents house for my brother's college graduation party. At about 1am an individual came into the house, intoxicated, and started telling people to f off and was somewhat beligerant. I stopped him and tried to make friendly conversation, asking him where he went to school. He replied "I'm in rehab, I'm down here for father's day" I immediately told him to leave and he did. I was approached by a female at the party who said he was making her uncomfortable and that I should call the police. I tried on my cell phone and got no reception so I let it go. About 5 minutes later he came back in and walked through the basement again. I said "that's it, I told you to leave now I'm calling the cops" He replied "You'll be in your f-ing grave before the cops get here" I yelled for my brother to come over and asked him if he knew the guy. He didn't and also told him to get out. The guy jumped up in my brothers face and told him to f-off. He then grabbed a beer bottle and tried to swing it at my brother. I had a beer in my hand and swung it at his hand. Both bottles collided and we fell to the floor as he was swinging at me. He got up with a large laceration on his face. Others jumped in and grabbed him and threw him outside. My brother and others went outside and stopped him and told him we need to get him to a hospital. We had two girls drive him to the nearest hospital where he received numerous stitches.

About 6 mos later I was charged with 2nd degree assault, a misdemeanor. 4 days prior to trial, my charges were indicted by a grand jury and now I am facing 1st degree assault. Case is about 3 weeks away.

Here's where his story differs. He said he was trying to leave and I grabbed him arm and hit him with a sharp object. It was obviously a beer bottle.

The lead witness in the case told investigators that he picked up a bottle and swung it at my brother, after pushing him, and that I hit him over the head "in defense of his brother"

Now, my attorney feels that this is a very winnable case but that he is going to see what the prosecution wants to offer as a plea bargain.

I don't know what to do. Should I go to trial or just plea out to something. If I go to trial I will probably face jail time if guilty I would imagine.

The guy has a criminal record and we have a statement from his friend who drove him to the party. In his statement he says they were kicked out of a previous party that night because he tried to start another fight.

What do you guys think?

[Skipper]

A couple of other things to mention:

* The guy came back to the house the next day with his parents and threatened to kill everyone.

*I went to the police 3 days after the incident and left all my contact with them should they need to contact me. In other words, I cooperated to the extent my attorney would allow.

*He tracked my office number down and made over 85 threatening calls. I trapped those calls and he was charged with harassment. That case was put on the stet docket.

*He has no witnesses. The lead witness in the case is also the one who said he is making her uncomfortable. We plan to call her as well. Others testifying would be cops and the girls who took him to the hospital. Both girls said they saw nothing.

*I did speak to the police and gave them my story. Just as it is here and just how it matches very closely to the witness statment.

*The witness told police that I did not grab his arm nor was I beligerant at all towards him or anyone else. She did tell them that I assisted in getting him to the hospital.

My feelings in this are that I wasn't aggravated at all. I had little choice but to act out of defense for my brother. I tried to stop the beer bottle and this kid ended up with a bad cut. I wasn't provoking anything here.

I have a 4 month old son and a good job. I am active in a local charity as well.

I'm at odds with my attorney a little bit. He wants to try the case and I don't want to, especailly now that it got indicted. He said he will try and get the DA to drop the charges or seek a stet with restituiton. He also added that I'm probably looking at 2nd degree assault, probation, and restitution if he works it out, menaing I have to plead guilty. I'm kinda torn here because I want this over with but at the same time I feel that I'm going to be paying restitiution to a guy who got what he was looking for. In my gut, I honestly would've reacted the same way had it happened again. I was defending my brother.

[blueeagle]

So this crack head shows up to your house out of the blue and decides he wants to kill somebody? This may be so, but I doubt a jury will buy it for a second.

Others jumped in and grabbed him and threw him outside. My brother and others went outside and stopped him and told him we need to get him to a hospital. We had two girls drive him to the nearest hospital where he received numerous stitches.

If he needed medical treatment, you should have called 911. Paramedics have far more training than a couple party girls. The prosecution might be curious as to why you didn't call 911 as well.

About 6 mos later I was charged with 2nd degree assault, a misdemeanor. 4 days prior to trial, my charges were indicted by a grand jury and now I am facing 1st degree assault. Case is about 3 weeks away.

Ouch. 1st degree assault has a punishment range up to 25 years.

I don't know what to do. Should I go to trial or just plea out to something. If I go to trial I will probably face jail time if guilty I would imagine.

It's safe to say the jury will give you at least some time in jail. I would suggest you take a plea for some probation or a short jail sentence.

* The guy came back to the house the next day with his parents and threatened to kill everyone.

Did you report them to the authorities?

*I went to the police 3 days after the incident and left all my contact with them should they need to contact me. In other words, I cooperated to the extent my attorney would allow.

Three days after the fight? I though you said you were not charged till 6 months later... Perhaps I misread?

*He tracked my office number down and made over 85 threatening calls. I trapped those calls and he was charged with harassment. That case was put on the stet docket.

He will probably got a small fine for the calls he made to you.

*He has no witnesses. The lead witness in the case is also the one who said he is making her uncomfortable. We plan to call her as well. Others testifying would be cops and the girls who took him to the hospital. Both girls said they saw nothing.

Were any wittiness intoxication at the time of the offense? Prosecution loves these kind of thing.

I wish you luck with this case and all, but I do see how it could go very bad for you. I believe your story, but I don't know if a jury will.

P.S. Don't worry to much about the grand jury indictment. A grand jury will indict a ham sandwich.

[Skipper]

So this crack head shows up to your house out of the blue and decides he wants to kill somebody? This may be so, but I doubt a jury will buy it for a second

.

Well he was mad he was asked to leave. I don't know why he told myself and my brother that he wanted to kill us, I'm assuming because we were throwing him out. His actions also were outlined by another witness.

If he needed medical treatment, you should have called 911. Paramedics have far more training than a couple party girls. The prosecution might be curious as to why you didn't call 911 as well.

Obviuosly, these party girls didn't have advanced medical degrees so we just asked them to drive a car not perform surgery.

Ouch. 1st degree assault has a punishment range up to 25 years.

Double ouch.

It's safe to say the jury will give you at least some time in jail. I would suggest you take a plea for some probation or a short jail sentence.

That's what I'm thinking as well. The prosecutor had offered a probationary plea in the past. At my lawyer's advice I turned it down. He believes we win this case and pleading guilty would open me up to civil proceedings.

Did you report them to the authorities?

Yes

Three days after the fight? I though you said you were not charged till 6 months later... Perhaps I misread?

Yes. 3 days after the fight I went to both the commissioners office and the local Sheriff's office and gave them my contact information. Let me back up, when the police came to the house it was the next day and I was not there. They started an investigation and I went to the police and like I said gave them my info. 6 months later I was served with a subpoena for 2nd degree misdemeanor assault. That was 2 years ago.
He will probably got a small fine for the calls he made to you.

Were any wittiness intoxication at the time of the offense? Prosecution loves these kind of thing

.

No and it's the prosecution's witness. The charging docs, outline her statement to the police that I hit him over the head. That same statement outlines the story I gave about except for the fact that she says I hit him over the head and not bottle to bottle. She still puts the bottle in his hand first at the one who was the aggressor.

I wish you luck with this case and all, but I do see how it could go very bad for you. I believe your story, but I don't know if a jury will.

I certainly see that as well, the guy has a gash on his face. What I don't see is how the prosecution can get around the self-defense argument. He was asked to leave many times and is witnessed picking up a bottle and trying to hit my brother with it. We weren't in a bar, we were at my parents house. This was the second time that night that he tried to start a fight. He was lookin for trouble and unfortunately he found it.

The guy is currently in a rehab facility in PA.

P.S. Don't worry to much about the grand jury indictment. A grand jury will indict a ham sandwich.[/QUOTE]

[Skipper]

So here's the latest:

We were scheduled to go to trial this morning. My attorney refused to speak with the prosecutor regarding any plea; primarily because of the strenghth or our case and what she was asking for.

The case was postponed because of an administrative issue at the court and we were assigned a new prosecutor who is very familiar with this case. He is willing to work with my attorney on this and he feels this case can go either way.

When we went in front of the judge for the postponement, the judge asked if there was ever a pre-trial (this case is now 3 years old). We said no (we waived our first pre-trial because my attorney was not interested in working something out.) He then told both the state's attorney and my lawyer to go into his chambers and schedule a pre-trial, "let's get this resolved" he said. So it looks like this case is headed for some out of court settlement. We'll see how that goes

P.S. I can't believe how some people dress when they go to court. They look like they are heading to a bar or cutting grass.

[Skipper]

Well, it's over.

We reached a deal with the prosecutor for the following

Guilty plea on the first degree assault
10 year suspended sentence
3 years probation
No restitution.

My attorney said something as we were leaving court that I would only do half the probation time? Any ideas why he said that? I'm going to ask him about that anyway.

Also, at intake for probation I was told that I have to submit to random urinalysis. However when I asked about alcohol they weren't real sure. My paperwork has a check box that says "Abstain from all alchohol" and it's not checked.

I would like to contain my social drinking but I'm not going to be stupid. If I can't, I won't. I'm not interested in violating probation.