March 27, 2014
- Steven Topazio wrote this October 21, 2014 at 11:23 pm
The client, a 41 year old father of four, was arrested after allegedly getting into a fight with his cousin while in his house where he struck his cousin in the head with a metal shovel. The cousin suffered a concussion and laceration to the nose as a result of the ABDW. According to the police report, the cousin arrived at the client’s apartment with an unknown individual. The client was present with two other individuals who were drinking alcohol and joking about scars they received. The alcohol fueled discussion turned ugly and confrontational. The cousin allegedly goes into the client’s kitchen and grabs all the kitchen knives in the house as a so-called peacekeeper. According to the police report, the cousin claims the client thereafter hit him in the head with a shovel. Attorney Topazio hired a private investigator and established a different set of facts. According to the investigator, the Client was at home with a friend drinking when his cousin arrived in a highly agitated state. The cousin then took 2 large kitchen knives from the client’s kitchen and hit one of the guests in the back with the side of the knife and threatened to kill that individual. When the client protested the cousin threatened to harm the client and then chased the client out of his apartment where the client struck the cousin with a shovel in defense of himself. Attorney Topazio pushed the case to trial after justifying his client’s actions to the ABDW as self-defense.