Walk It Through: The Fight Outside the Bar
A shove, a punch back, a broken nose, a crowd that will not leave, and where self defense ends.
Outside a bar on Main Street in Newark, a stranger shoves a student into a wall and raises a fist.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
A fight between strangers with an ordinary injury. Deadly force, weapons, a fight with an officer and a home intruder are not worked through here.
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.
- Duty to retreatThe rule that deadly force is not justified where the defendant knows it can be avoided with complete safety by retreating.
- Physical injuryThe harm that makes assault in the third degree, a class A misdemeanor, and with a deadly weapon or a victim 62 or older, the second degree.
- Disorderly conductIntentionally causing public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm by fighting, unreasonable noise, abusive language, blocking traffic, or refusing to disperse. It is an unclassified misdemeanor.
- Unclassified misdemeanorAn offense not designated a felony, a class A or B misdemeanor, or a violation. Unless its own law says otherwise, it carries up to 30 days and $575.
- Offensive touchingIntentionally touching another person knowing it is likely to cause offense or alarm. It is an unclassified misdemeanor, and a class A misdemeanor with a bodily fluid.