Question for Bosk of any other law type people.
The guy who assaulted my boss and broke his ribs is claiming that my boss lashed out first.
He is not that type of guy. He's obviously just trying to get away with it.
Now - in a court hearing or whatever - would it even matter " who started it " if my boss got his ribs broken ?
Does it matter "who started it" if actual bodily harm has been committed ?
For example - if I trespassed on someones lawn and got beaten up - would " he trespassed " hold up in court
If I suffered serious harm from being beaten up ?
Anyone ?
I think those laws depend on where you are, even in the US, the states have different laws regarding self protection and trespassing. Some places, yes, it is OK to beat the shit out of or shoot a trespasser.
This isn't my bag, necessarily, so I'm probably giving you the extent of my knowledge, but I will say that the details are somewhat dependent on where you are. Generally speaking, you are entitled to defend yourself if attacked. The criteria is usually that you feel imminent harm and the person threatening you (assault) or actually hitting you (battery) is capable of inflicting that imminent harm. Generally you can use force in response, but that force must be that which a reasonable person in similar circumstances would use. A small number of states require you to retreat if it is safe to do so (meaning you can't fight back unless you have no option to retreat) but most are what are called "Stand Your Ground" states, whereby you can fight back as a first line of defense. Generally you can only use deadly force if it is threated and imminent against you. If the girl who thought you pinched her ass slaps you, you can slap her back, but you likely cannot shoot her in the face.
In your case, if you (or anyone else in the room) saw what happened, your testimony would be crucial in determining the order of events. It would matter "who started it" as a general proposition, but it would depend on the facts of the circumstances.
Trespass is slightly different, at least here in the States. Regular assault and battery is not typically "trespassing".
As a general rule, the parties have to act reasonably (to the extent that actually punching someone in the face can be called "reasonable". I will say this, though: the law doesn't really care who "wins" or "loses" the fight. If you punch me first, and merely split my lip, and I then punch you back and cave in your ribcage, you are going to lose both the fight in the office and the fight in the courtroom.