Termsandconditionsch t1_j1yu3c0 wrote on December 28, 2022 at 12:18 PM

Reply to comment by galahad423 in TIFU by chasing a shoplifter by staterho

Not if he hits her with the bottle first it isn’t.

galahad423 t1_j1zl92j wrote on December 28, 2022 at 4:08 PM

Then you could potentially argue it was self defense (but only if she wasn’t the escalator and didn’t provoke it, which is murky here since based on the facts she approached him and tried to grab the bottle), but IF she went out and chased him, there are some courts who will find HE was using his right of self defense when she approached him with the intent to put her hands on him or grab the bottle, both of which could be considered an initial assault which he was defending himself against

You generally can’t use self-defense as a defense when you’re the one instigating the fight

Termsandconditionsch t1_j22ilwv wrote on December 29, 2022 at 4:25 AM

Depends on jurisdiction. Hitting someone who’s unarmed with a deadly weapon (which a 1.5l glass bottle definitely can be) will void any self defence argument in a lot of places.

galahad423 t1_j22j851 wrote on December 29, 2022 at 4:30 AM

Sure, my point was that it’s unlikely the cashier would be unable to successfully claim self-defense here either, since they both pursued the potential thief and made physical contact first based on the doctrine of extended personhood (when she grabbed the bottle), AND the thief could potentially turn the defense around on them and claim self-defense themselves