My question involves criminal law for the state of: Washington State
TL;DR - Son was charged and held in Juvenile Detention for 6 days, then house arrest for 6 months for 2nd Degree Assault. He was jumped by 6 guys that were "bouncers" at a high school party and my son ended up stabbing 1 bouncer, 1 time, then ran. They all, or most, lied and said he just randomly stabbed the kid and ran. The case is now dismissed but this doesn't seem right/just. What are our options?
Reasons for dismissal : Evidence clearly points (based on witness statements from a few of the bouncers as well as unbiased witnesses) to self defense. Our son was jumped, on the ground being stomped on in the face, groin, etc. by 5-6 guys. He only stabbed one, one time and ran as soon as he could.
Main points of frustration: Had the kids been honest from the start our son would not have been on house arrest for 6 months. Also, the prosecutor had the names of the witnesses from the start or at least within a month of the incident and yet the KEY interviews that matched up with my sons story didn't even take place until a week before trial, after multiple "extensions". This whole thing has cost us ~40-50k in lawyer fees. What's really bad is since it's dismissed we don't get Self Defense verdict, which means WA State won't reimburse our legal fees.
Primary questions: Do we have a potential case for a civil suit and is that going to cost us more money or will someone do it for a portion of the winnings? The key factor here is most if not all the kids who assaulted my son are 18, so they have nothing. Second question - can we now press charges against the kids who assaulted him? We have the witness interviews recorded clearly stating who was beating him, as well as showing that 2-3 of the "bouncers" were outright lying...so bad some claimed there was never a fight (we have hospital photos of our sons face and body bloody and bruised). Can we hold the state accountable at all for taking their time to do their due diligence and not interviewing these witnesses sooner? There was also a comment from the prosecutor in the pre trial mentioning how bad the detective work was on this case. Any other options we may not be considering?
Thank you all for your time.
TL;DR - Son was charged and held in Juvenile Detention for 6 days, then house arrest for 6 months for 2nd Degree Assault. He was jumped by 6 guys that were "bouncers" at a high school party and my son ended up stabbing 1 bouncer, 1 time, then ran. They all, or most, lied and said he just randomly stabbed the kid and ran. The case is now dismissed but this doesn't seem right/just. What are our options?
Reasons for dismissal : Evidence clearly points (based on witness statements from a few of the bouncers as well as unbiased witnesses) to self defense. Our son was jumped, on the ground being stomped on in the face, groin, etc. by 5-6 guys. He only stabbed one, one time and ran as soon as he could.
Main points of frustration: Had the kids been honest from the start our son would not have been on house arrest for 6 months. Also, the prosecutor had the names of the witnesses from the start or at least within a month of the incident and yet the KEY interviews that matched up with my sons story didn't even take place until a week before trial, after multiple "extensions". This whole thing has cost us ~40-50k in lawyer fees. What's really bad is since it's dismissed we don't get Self Defense verdict, which means WA State won't reimburse our legal fees.
Primary questions: Do we have a potential case for a civil suit and is that going to cost us more money or will someone do it for a portion of the winnings? The key factor here is most if not all the kids who assaulted my son are 18, so they have nothing. Second question - can we now press charges against the kids who assaulted him? We have the witness interviews recorded clearly stating who was beating him, as well as showing that 2-3 of the "bouncers" were outright lying...so bad some claimed there was never a fight (we have hospital photos of our sons face and body bloody and bruised). Can we hold the state accountable at all for taking their time to do their due diligence and not interviewing these witnesses sooner? There was also a comment from the prosecutor in the pre trial mentioning how bad the detective work was on this case. Any other options we may not be considering?
Thank you all for your time.
Assault & Battery: Minor Wrongfully Charged with Second Degree Assault and Dismissed
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