gwalkerruns wrote:
There is the legal concept of equal reciprocity. If she pushes him, he can push her back. If she hits him in a light way, he can do the same. He loses legally when he responded to a light smack with a knock out blow. The same concept applies to weapons, etc.
Spot on. If he was attacked first, he can respond with equal or appropriate force under the law. If someone punches you in the stomach you can't pull out a gun and shoot the person in the chest (except in Florida).
Here's what I think happened. Both were initially charged with Domestic Violence. She for hitting him first, and he for assaulting her with inappropriate force. If she didn't attack him first, Ray Rice would have been charged with Felony Assault with that knockout blow. As in most jurisdictions, Ray Rice was able to negotiate a plea deal where he would plead guilty to a lesser misdemeanor charge that would be dismissed upon completion of a diversion program and the charges against his fiancé would be dropped. These types of plea deals happen in over 90% of DV cases.
What Ray Rice did was 100% wrong, but he could have gotten away with it if he didn't panic. He could have just picked her up and carried her back to their room instead of standing there and trying to pull her out of the elevator. If anyone asked he could just say she was drunk and no one would have questioned it and there would be no interest in anyone reviewing the surveillance video. I know this sounds bad, but I'm just saying he used bad judgement in hitting her and bad judgement in self-preservation.