Aggravated Assault
Punishable by up to 20 Years in Montana State Prison.
We used 'Justifiable Use of Force' as a defense
and proved the 'other guy' was the aggressor.
After discussing the case with our client, we started an immediate investigation with a particular focus on showing that the alleged victim was in fact, the aggressor.
We were able to gather casino/bar video and bank surveillance video that supported our client's story.
The alleged victim followed our client through the bar, outside, across the street and into an alley.
Justifiable Use of Force, or 'Self-Defense'
usually require the client to testify.
Even though we had video evidence that the victim stalked our client out of the bar, we couldn't establish his state of mind without his testimony.
In most self-defense claims the defendant must testify in order to establish his state of mind which drove his actions.
The client told the jury that alleged victim snuck up behind him and tried to hit him. Our client testified that he hit him once, hard in the chin and he went down.
Testimony Plus Hard Evidence
Sways a jury
In addition to the client's testimony, we presented medical testimony, The doctor testified that based on the physical evidence the alleged victim only two injuries. One injury was a bruise on his chin. The second injury was to the back of his head, which was consistent with the back of his head hitting on a concrete parking marker.
We also showed the jury surveillance video that showed our client was down the alley less than five minutes when he emerged and told by standards to get medical help.
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