Boston Personal Injury Attorney Blog
According to a recent news report from Boston.com, a 42-year-old man died after he was allegedly attacked at a bar in Quincy, Massachusetts. Authorities say defendant attacked victim in the bar, for reasons which have not yet been released, and left him there to die with serious bodily injuries, which is how first responders found him when they arrived at the scene of the alleged attack.
Norfolk County prosecutors say they have charged defendant with murder, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and assault and battery causing serious bodily injury. Prosecutors also say this alleged assault was entirely without provocation, and defendant is being held without bond in the Norfolk County jail to await trial.
Victim was survived by his two boys, ages 18 and 15. It is important to understand, defendant has not been convicted of any crime in connection with this alleged assault and is presumed innocent unless and until he is found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
As our Boston personal injury attorneys can explain, the vast majority of cases filed in Boston area courts in connection with injuries involve negligence allegations. However, some cases involve claims of intentional torts or a combination of intentional torts and negligent torts.
An intentional tort, as the name implies, stems from intentional conduct, which harms plaintiff. Examples of intentional torts include assault, battery, wrongful imprisonment (kidnapping), conversion (theft), intentional infliction of emotional distress, tortious interference with chattels (destruction of property) and other intentional harmful acts. There are also intentional torts that are further classified as invasion of privacy torts, as well as defamation. While you may notice many of these are also crimes, the reason they exist as torts is to allow victims to file a civil personal injury lawsuit, aside from whatever prosecutors do in the criminal case.
In the context of a bar fight that ends in serious personal injury or even death, if victim was not the initial aggressor, there may be a variety of intentional tort claims, which plaintiff or plaintiff’s estate can file against defendant. The most obvious tort claims would be assault and battery. While many people think of assault and battery as the same thing, in a civil case there is a difference. Civil assault generally involves putting someone in fear of an imminent bodily harm. In other words, if a person threatens to hit you and then does, he or she could be liable for assault and battery. If they threaten to hit you and do not follow through, they may be liable for assault but not battery. Even if they do not threaten you, but you see their fist moving towards you, he or she may be liable for assault and battery. On the other hand, if someone walks up to you and hits you from behind, they would be liable for battery, but not assault in most cases.
You cannot recover for each individual tort for a total of money much greater than your actual damages, but having multiple theories increases the chance at least one of them will be successful.
If you are injured in an accident in Boston, call Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers for a free and confidential appointment — (617) 777-7777.
Additional Resources:
7 injured in chairlift accident at Maine’s Sugarloaf, Father Attacked in Quincy Bar Dies from Injuries, April 3, 2015
More Blog Entries:
New Guidelines for Identifying Causes of Newborn Brain Injury, October 21, 2014, Boston Personal Injury Lawyer Blog