home invasion

[spydrn20]

my longtime friend that used to rent a room from me kept using my address to get his unemployment checks. i called him and (love the guy) let him know his precious check was here. he wouldn't take the time to talk to me about the collection of junk and cleaning up his mess/collecting his property. he was on my deck, i asked him for a couple minutes to talk. he tried to push me out of the way to get "his" check which was in the house. i stopped him and he punched me twice so i hit him with my hand and he called the police on his girlfriend/foster mother/ babys mama's request. i got charged with misdemeanor battery? what's wrong here?
scott

 

[AlmostALawyer]

You have a claim for battery, too. You should have called the police after he called the police and reported the same. He hit you twice. You hit him in self defense.... One may use reasonable force to protect one's self.

 

[CdwJava]

So, when you informed the police that he had attacked you first, what did they say?

Understand that self defense is a claim of justification you will make at trial. Maybe your attorney can point this out to the DA beforehand and in light of the totality of the circumstances, perhaps the DA might decide not to pursue this mater.

On the other hand, there may be some element of the tale you have missed or that your old buddy embellished upon. Perhaps you committed a crime in your unnamed state by keeping him from his check. There may be some other elements that came into play here.