Walk It Through: The Shove in the Parking Lot
A shove over a parking space, a fist raised in return, and the officer who arrives to two stories.
Two drivers argue over a parking space. One shoves the other hard enough to hurt.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
A shoving match between adult strangers. Weapons, serious injury, and a domestic relationship between the two are left out.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
- Deadly forceForce used meaning to cause, or knowing it risks causing, death or serious physical injury, allowed in self-defense only against threats the law lists.
- Duty to leaveDeadly force is not justified if the person knows they can avoid it with complete safety by leaving, except at home, at work, protecting a child or household member, or anywhere they have a right to be.
- Household memberIncludes current and former spouses, and adults or minors who live or have lived together, the relationships that make a crime one involving domestic violence.
- Initial aggressorSomeone who started the fight, who has no claim to self-defense unless they withdrew, made it clear, and the other person kept on.
- Physical injuryPhysical pain or an impairment of physical condition.
- Class A misdemeanorThe more serious misdemeanor class, with up to one year in jail and a fine up to $25,000.
- Dangerous instrumentThe term the assault law uses for an object used in a way that raises an assault to a higher degree, such as injuring someone with one, the second degree.