Q: I was physically assaulted. Made report my assailant shows up and claim she was victim.both of us got tickets.why
I was attacked I defended myself. I showed up to report this. Named my attacker and where it happened.told where the attacked could be found.had visible facial injuries.about this time the assailant walked in to station and claimed she was the victim.since we both had marks we both where ticketed.I was beat up bad but I defended myself during fight.why am I ticketed when I'm victim that made report
A: The police officer has no idea who is telling the truth; he/she did not witness the events. That is what Judges and Juries are for. Both parties can appear in court, tell their side of the story, and have a jury make a decision.
Kiele Linroth Pace agrees with this answer
A:
You are both lucky it was only a ticket and not an arrest for Assault Causing Bodily Injury, which has a punishment range of up to 1 year in the county jail and a fine up to $4,000. Texas law is written such that mere pain is sufficient to support a conviction, no physical injury is required (e.g. scratch, bruise, etc.)
You have been accused of a violent crime, but not convicted. If you enter a plea of either guilty or no contest you WILL be convicted. If you enter a plea of NOT GUILTY and request a jury trial then you can only be convicted if the prosecution can prove your guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
In most assault cases, witness testimony is the most important evidence. Photographs can only show that a person was injured, not HOW they were injured. In Texas a person has a right to use force in self defense against another person's unlawful use of force... so it becomes a matter of who touched whom first... except a person also has a right to use force to prevent unlawful interference with property. So when the first physical contact is legally justified by the protection of property, it is therefore not an unlawful use of force, so there is no right of self-defense. All of this is further complicated by certain assumptions regarding the location, the precise nature of the difficulty, and the reasonableness of the amount of force used, from the point of view of actor.
Bottom line is you may have a good defense to the Assault charge, but the law in complicated and you'll need to hire a local criminal defense attorney to maximize your chance to prevail. More information about the decision to hire an attorney on this type of case is posted here: http://www.pacefirm.com/faq/assault-by-contact.html
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