Legal Question in Criminal Law in North Dakota

my 20 yr. old son

My son was at a party thrown by some other under aged boys... he got blind drunk and verbally assaulted the other boys for about an hour...one of the boys subsequently kicked my sons butt and knocked out 2 of his teeth...while he was down he was kicked in the face, his jaw is broken and will require a number of surgeries to repair before the teeth can be replaced...he probably had the butt kicking coming , but I think they went too far when they kicked him while he was down...we are going to have to pay a lot of dental and maxillo facial bills...do we have any recourse? The person who owns the property said the boys had permission to use the facility and his son was the one who brought in a keg of beer...all the boys were under age and drunk as well as ( I think) smoking dope...I went to find his tooth with a sheriffs deputy...he wrote citations for minors in possession as well as consumption, and told the boys he would put them through , only if they caused any more trouble...he said that it sounded to him as though my son was asking for it...and basically let it go...I don't think he was aware of the damage that was done...What should I do? Should I contact the Sheriffs department? Talk to the property owner?


Asked on 7/21/08, 5:53 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Ross Brandborg Brudvik Law Office

Re: my 20 yr. old son

You bassically have three options:

1) Have your son file a police report. Try and get criminal charges filed against the responsible. This could be difficult if your son was in a Black Out when this occurred? Can he identify the responsible individuals? With a criminal charge, it would then be possible to collect restitution for the damages.

2)You could sue the responsible individuals in civil court, but the problem here is they may not have any money to pay, even if you win, and you are still faced with the problem of identifying the responsible party.

3) You could try and sue the owner of the property, this could work especially if he knew about the party and the underage drinking. This option is potentially the best if he has insurance to pay a judgment.

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Answered on 7/21/08, 6:44 pm


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