Statement of Tom Alciere regarding the simple assault charge.
Revisions in red.
On 26 March 2009 my son Louis asked me to step outside to help evict some unwanted neighbor children who wanted to play basketball with him. Louis only wanted to practice dribbling with a few good friends. After some conversation, one bully sixth-grade girl threw Louis’ basketball at Louis. A good boy picked it up and handed it to Louis. The girl then lunged at Louis, seizing him in a grip from behind with her arms around him.
To free Louis, I had to seize the bully girl’s arms at the wrists and pull her off Louis, then stand between the bully sixth grader and my son, who is smaller than the attacker and is in fifth grade. They claim I left marks on her left arm. Naturally I am concerned about this, as I never intended to inflict any harm on her, I was only defending my son. I do wear a wedding ring on my left hand, which is the hand with which I seized the attacker’s left arm.
Note that the bully girl attacked with no provocation whatsoever. Louis and I and the friends of Louis only wanted to be left alone.
My action was totally justified under RSA 627:4 and there is no merit whatsoever to this charge. Can anyone suggest a way to defend Louis, which involves less force in this situation? It is precisely this kind of misguided prosecution which intimidates bystanders into inaction, and this, in turn, emboldens bullies to continue to prey on children who are smaller and weaker than the bullies themselves.
I wish the girl’s parents the best of luck in dealing with their daughter’s behavior problem. I intend to beat the rap at trial on 5 June 2009. The public is invited to the trial at 08:15 a.m. in Nashua District Court.
Tom Alciere can be reached at tomalciere@tomalciere.com
UPDATE:
Update 19 July 2009: The trial was postponed until 17 July 2009 and it was held in Nashua District Court. The prosecutor reduced the charge from Class A to Class B misdemeanor to deny me the beneift of a trial by jury. Now it is up to Judge Ryan, who took the case under advisement.