Legal Question in Criminal Law in Ohio
Hello. My question regards someone who is being charged with assault for beating up their ex- girlfriend. The man who was assaulting the girl was drunk and/or on pills of some kind. Two men who lived nearby and heard the assault rushed outside and subdued the man who was attacking. They did so by punching him and were quite physical. The man who committed the initial attack was arrested for assault and disorderly conduct. The two men who came to the woman's defense and beat the attacker up pretty good were not charged with anything. The attacker has been in front of a judge over ten times since turning 18, never for assault but for everything from burglary to drug possession. He is now suing the two men who beat him up. My questions are: 1. Does he have a good chance to win the civil suit? And 2. What will the civil suit do to the assault charge? If you could please help me out I would greatly appreciate it. None of this involves me directly ( by which I mean I am not any of the people in the above story) but it does involve someone close to me and I want justice served. Thank you
2 Answers from Attorneys
The civil suit should have zero effect on the criminal matter. If I could i would enjoy representing either of the two guys that came to the aid of the woman. They should probably counterclaim the "assaulter" for any pain they suffered to their fists.
Mr. Jacobs is correct. The defendants in the lawsuit filed by the initial aggressor would have a qualified privilege defense in that they were doing something (stopping the attack) that the law would consider of value to society. The only way that the Plaintiff in that lawsuit might recover is if the Plaintiff could show that the two defendants used excessive force in stopping the attack. But that is a long shot since most juries are going to very unsympathetic to the Plaintiff.
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