JW was charged with battery after he was involved in a fistfight at his mother’s thanksgiving meal. JW hired me after his arrest, and we immediately discussed his arrest allegations. The state alleged that JW punched his sister’s boyfriend (victim) in the head after JW got upset with how the victim spoke to his mother. After we conducted our investigation, we discovered that the sister had made statements about how her boyfriend had abused her. We learned that the relationship between the family and the sister had been strained. We learned that this Thanksgiving celebration was the first time the family had met the sister’s boyfriend and that the boyfriend had a short temper.

JW explained that, on the night of the arrest, he had told the boyfriend that he needed to show respect to his mother, but he did not attack the boyfriend. He explained that the boyfriend attacked him but that he got the best of the boyfriend. Photographic evidence showed injuries existed in both people.

When we took the case to trial, Aaron Rosenblatt cross-examined the boyfriend. Mr. Rosenblatt showed the judge that the boyfriend had a short temper. He also got the boyfriend to demonstrate a distorted memory of the incident. When it was the Defense’s turn to present their case, we presented a logical and believable defense. Our firm presented three witnesses who all said that the boyfriend was the person who started the fight. The judge could tell that the boyfriend was a liar, and JW was found not guilty.