Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: Physical Confrontation

The law relating to physical confrontation is the same for everyone regardless of what they have studied. Just because someone is a martial arts expert does not mean that person has special privileges in beating up on others. If that person is involved in a situation which calls for self-defense, again, the law treats everyone the same. In self-defense, the force that can be employed must be reasonable. No one can get away with employing deadly force or force likely to result in great bodily injury in a situation where use of such force is unnecessary.

I also think that the law probably imposes a greater duty on someone who is skilled in applying physical force. In other words, if a person skilled in martial arts injures someone and their skill is such that injury could have been avoided, the law might treat such a person more harshly because what they did was not reasonable under the circumstances, i.e., given the context of their special skill in dealing with and avoiding a physical confrontation.

Jacek W. Lentz, Esq.

310.273.1361

www.lentzlawfirm.com