Assaulted and then Charged with Disorderly Conduct

[hattmall]

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Georgia

A friend of mine was recently arrested after to an altercation outside of a nightclub.

The incident:
He was made to leave the nightclub for having a flask. His wrist bands proving that he paid were removed. Later in the night he returned to the club (without flask) and attempted to enter, he paid an additional cover and was let past the doorman, as he was entering the bouncer that made him leave earlier stopped him and began acting aggressively towards him and told him to leave. He requested his money back for the second cover paid less than 1 minute ago, the bouncer told him no then moved into a position blocking him from exiting and began berating him and pushing his chest, at this point my friend attempted to leave. As he was exiting, the bouncer, who is nearly twice his size, grabbed him and put him in a headlock causing them both to fall down outside of the club, other staff members also came outside, my friend attempted to escape and defend himself but was unsuccessful. A police officer who did not witness the initial event but saw the altercation in progress responded after about 30 seconds and immediately used a stun gun on my friend bringing him to the ground. The officer sat on his back and stunned him again, he did try to get up several times and was repeatedly stunned. There was a large crowd around, the music was very loud and his face was in the ground, he did not know he was dealing with an officer as opposed to the nightclub staff, and after the shocking and having already been punched in the head/face and choked before the cop got there, he was basically unaware of his situation entirely.

He was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, obstruction of an officer and simple assault on an officer. Three misdemeanor charges, he is currently out on bail.

We have multiple witness including myself who can attest that the events happened as described above.

Disorderly Conduct in Georgia as is most appropriate to this case is defined as:
Acting in a violent or tumultuous manner toward another person that put them in fear of their safety.

We do not believe that he is guilty of this crime, mainly because he did not initiate the physical altercation and the primary bouncer involved is at least 65% larger in size than my friend, he also had at least four other staff members in his immediate vicinity the entire time.

Thanks to facebook I have many pictures of this man (bouncer) with his shirt off showing his muscles, etc.

So what can we do? I think that I should file some sort of Request to Dismiss at least the disorderly conduct charge and possibly the others. Is it possible that him being unaware he was dealing with police could remove any liability from the other two crimes?

What do I do?
Mail the prosecution, the clerk of court, wait until the arraignment, is this a motion or a request?
I do not know, I am trying to do as much research as possible, I am obviously not a lawyer, just trying to help my friend we are college students who can not really afford legal counsel but because of his parental situation he is ineligible to meet with a public defender yet his parents refuse to pay.

Please, any help is greatly appreciated, an idea of how to do this motion / request would be helpful.

Thanks again

[cyjeff]

YOU do nothing.

His lawyer may proceed down this path... but let me tell you why he/she most likely won't.

You friend was trespassing on private property. I am guessing that when he was expelled for the flask he was told not to come back.

the representatives of the owner (the bouncers) have that right.

When told to leave, your friend became belligerent... repeatedly, violently and all over the place.

If he is so pissed off that he doesn't even hear the POLICE OFFICER telling him to calm down and had to be repeatedly tased, this isn't him "trying to get up".

He was scrapping with an officer. He knew he was. Not "knowing" is not an affirmative defense.

One last part of the story that is a lie... a police officer will not tase anyone they are sitting on... tends to "share the current".... and the officer doesn't want to be anywhere nearby when the button is pushed.

Let's recap...

A drunk tries to reenter a bar he has already been thrown out of once. He decides to fight the bouncer because he gets caught.

He refuses to leave the second time until his demands are met. The club is under no responsibility to meet his demands.

He is thrown out... again. He decides to fight his way out. Even when tased, he continues to fight.

His word against the bouncer... good luck.

[hattmall]

Thanks for your reply.

Things that are in his favor. He did not become belligerent, the bouncer struck him first. He asked for his money back, then tried to leave. There are many witnesses.

He was not drunk, the police thought to charge him with public intoxication but he blew 0.01 on the breathalyser when being booked.

There was a crowd of about 100 people outside by the time the police officer became involved, and there is music playing very loudly from this bar and 4 others.

The officer was using a stun gun, he stunned him before making any verbal contact. After this he was face down in the ground. The officer was on his back and using the stun gun on him. It wasn't a taser, it was just a personal defense stun gun that cost around $25.

He did not know he was dealing with a cop because he had been punched in the face several times by a 275+ guy who is probably on steroids. He doesn't even remember being shocked, but I and many other people who are willing to testify / written affidavit saw the entire event.

He doesn't have a lawyer and can't really afford one, I wish someone could please give me some useful advice. The club has security footage, but they claim that they recorded over it the next night.

I doubt that the bouncer even gave a statement, can we find out, how should we get the evidence against him? To know if the bouncer gave a statement or if they have the video footage. The police car may have had a camera which could have recorded some of it. Also what about the officers tape recorder?

Can't someone find the time to help us without needing money?

[cyjeff]

Have him plead not guilty to all charges and ask for a public defender.

[hattmall]

Ok, Thank you for that and it is most likely what will happen.

I guess my question is really what can we do before his court date. Which as I understand will be an arraignment where he can plead guilty or not guilty and go to either a trial by jury or a bench trial. Is this correct?

What can we do before this and what effect will it have once he gets the public defender?

I would like to no more about the motions that can be made? Or requests? What about continuances, to get a job and save money for a lawyer? He just graduated and moved out of the area at the end of the summer semester. He is over 3 hours away now.

How long can he get continuances? First offenders plea? He is 24 and has no criminal record.

Thanks again for any help.