Minot, ND asked in Criminal Law and Domestic Violence for North Dakota

Q: How can someone 'prove' self-defense when the person who assualted you lies saying they never hit me and filed charges?

On a sunday evening my girlfriend struck me without warning and without our voices being raised, I instinctively responded and had struck her and put her on her back AFTER she blind-sided me. She had hit me again and i returned the punch and rolled off her and repeatredly told her to leave. 2 days later she got arrested for stealing a puppy from local pet store. 3 days after that (5 days after incident) i get arrested for aggravated assualt domestic violence because she had gotten pulled over and charges with DUS and while at the police station lied to the officer saying i struck her without any reason and neglected to mention she struck me first. I spent a week in jail before bonding out. She has emailed the states attorney saying i never 'chocked' her as the officer said in his affidavit. In fact his entire statement is full of lies when comparing it to the body cam footage I had been given in the discovery. My first court appointed attorney refused to file motion to dismiss.

1 Lawyer Answer

A: It is the lawyer's decision, not the client's, in choosing which motions to make. If you want to prove facts of the case, trial is the place and time to do just that.

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