Self-Defence not allowed for Man in Trouble

On one Saturday evening, Lewis Brown entered Stanley’s Tavern alone. There were a number of patrons in the bar. He ordered a drink and went to play a game. Lewis recognized a woman he had worked with. Mr Brown thought it was a good idea to have a chat with the woman. As he was talking to her he was confronted by a young, white, hostile male in his twenties who advised Lewis that the girl he was talking to was in fact his girlfriend. Lewis did not want any trouble so he explained to the man that there was no problem and turned around and started to leave.

At that exact moment the man grabbed Lewis around the neck. He frantically pulled the male around in front of him. The man continued to throw punches and connected with Lewis’s mouth. Within a second three more white patrons had jumped on Lewis and knocked him to the floor. By this time he was being kicked and punched all over his body. It seemed every time he tried to get up he was kicked back down again. The men started yelling racist comments like "kill that nigger." Lewis feared for his life.

Mr Brown suffers from panic disorder and felt he was going to die. He waited for someone to call the police or help him help. No one wanted to be involved. While on the floor, Lewis reached down and opened a pocket knife that he had used for work and began waving it around thinking that it would make them stand down. Slowly one after another backed up and ran out the bar. In doing so Lewis hadn’t realised he actually cut one of them. After the men left the bar he picked himself up and stumbled to his car when the police arrived.

Mr Brown was transported to the police station where he was kept overnight because of his injuries and observations. Lewis had terrible injuries to his mouth, chest, stomach, back and arm. While he was in jail he found out that none of the white males had been arrested or charged. The police were not even going to charge any of the four men. Lewis believed justice had to be served and pushed the idea to his attorney. Mr Brown’s attorney told him to plea bargain because he wouldn’t get a fair trial because of his race that Lewis should leave town for his own safety.