Assault at a New Year's Party

My question involves criminal law for the state of: California

Hello everyone, so happy I found about this forum.

Last night I was assaulted at a New Years party. I'd like to know what kind of legal recourse I have.

Is it worth my while to file criminal charges?

Is it worth my while to file civil charges? (Do I have a strong enough case?)

Some background. I was in the restroom at a house party around 12:30 AM. There was knocking at the door and I said I'd be out in a minute. I left the bathroom and three men came went in with a friend who was sick presumably so he could throw up.

After a short time they came out and one of them got in my face and was upset I hadn't left the bathroom sooner. He knocked a drink out my hand and pushed me. Then one of his friends started pushing me. I responded verbally and his third friend punched me in the face. At this point I left the party. I had about 5 friends with me who all witnessed the event.

Also everyone present (except our driver) was drunk.

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Quoting socal33

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Is it worth my while to file criminal charges?

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Filing criminal charges is not up to you. It is up to the district attorney. You, can report the matter to the police who may investigate further and report to the DA if the circumstances warrant that.

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Quoting socal33

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Is it worth my while to file criminal charges?

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That is up to you. If it was not a mutual fight, and you want to go to court and testify that you were attacked without cause, then it might be worth while for you to report it to the police. However, reporting it AT THE TIME would have been preferable. As it is now, the police will have to do a lot of hunting for witnesses and if this is a simple misdemeanor battery without significant injury, they ain't gonna do a whole lot of checking.

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Is it worth my while to file civil charges? (Do I have a strong enough case?)

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Do you have damages? If so, what are they?

A civil suit is about money to make you whole. You will have to show receipts for damages such as medical bills, replacement value of property and clothing that was destroyed, etc. You do not get pain and suffering money in small claims court, and unless you went to the hospital and have some debilitating injury, hiring an attorney to seek what would probably be an apology would be silly.

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After a short time they came out and one of them got in my face and was upset I hadn't left the bathroom sooner. He knocked a drink out my hand and pushed me. Then one of his friends started pushing me. I responded verbally and his third friend punched me in the face. At this point I left the party. I had about 5 friends with me who all witnessed the event.

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Presumably you can have all three charged with misdemeanor battery. You know their names? If not, then it probably is not worth anyone's time, because the police are not going to spend a lot of time hunting down three guys at a large party. And if it was a party where there were underage people drinkign or drugs being used, most anyone involved is going to be a little less than enthusiastic to speak to the cops about it.

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Also everyone present (except our driver) was drunk.

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Which makes it even LESS likely that criminal charges would be filed by the DA.

if people say you had alcohol they will likely not file any charges. The only recourse you probobly had is to man up and punch him back. The most you can get out of this is create some pain in the ass for those kids but even that is highly unlikely.

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Quoting jarno

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if people say you had alcohol they will likely not file any charges. The only recourse you probobly had is to man up and punch him back. The most you can get out of this is create some pain in the ass for those kids but even that is highly unlikely.

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Our DA once wrote the best rejection on our request for charges in a bar fight ... "No charges. Drunks doing what drunks do." :D