Legal Question in Personal Injury in New York

Re: injury

I'm trying to envision how the cousin could have suffered scratches to his face and upper lip unless he fell onto something reasonably sharp. A fall to the floor would not generally result in those types of injuries unless there was something more going on.

When you use the words "press charges" that generally means make a complaint to initiate a criminal investigation and case. I'll let somebody more qualified in the area of criminal law address that part of your question.

Provocation is not a defense. But self-defense is. Did the cousin hit your son first? The question is whether your son reasonably believed he was about to be hit and then and only then he may only use such reasonable force that will enable him to pause his attacker long enough for him to retreat. Simply pushing somebody down sounds like it is reasonable force, but you should really go over the facts in detail with an attorney to be sure.

At this stage, you don't have to do anything except wait. You may wish to get all your witness' names and addresses in case you will need them in the future and they are not people you see all the time. Also, if your son was injured, take pictures to show what injuries he sustained so the self-defense theory is all the more plausible in Court. Lastly, take photographs of the scene of the incident if there are certain features that have relevance to the case. For example, if your son was backed into a corner with no place to retreat, he will want to be able to show that his only reasonable course of action was to push his attacker aside.

If your son was the individual attacked, then the best thing for him to do is go to the police or district attorney and seek an order of protection from the cousin. Generally speaking, whoever gets that first will have the district attorney's ear, and that can be a great advantage because there would present a conflict of interest later if the cousin attempted to file his own complaint.