Details on my right of self-defense and public fighting?

Question

My mom dropped my friend Lisa, my baby sister, and me off at this plaza because we were going to see a movie. My friend and I are sixteen, my sister is seven. My mom dropped us off at Jamba Juice, and right when we arrive a fight erupted.

Two guys were fighting, and then the police came. One of the guys fighting tried to run away from the scene, and he was headed straight towards us. My sister and I were holding hands, so we went left and my friend went right to get out of the way. Since we were blocking his way, he moved to his right to avoid us, but his right was my left so he ended up knocking my sister down to the ground and she started crying.

A dad and his two children were ten feet behind us, and as the guy who knocked my sister to the ground ran past him, the dad punched the guy and knocked him into the wall. (I'm assuming he did that to protect his children, but I'll also pretend it was since the guy knocked my sister to the ground.) In the end, the guy who knocked my sister to the ground got away, but I was wondering about how the scene could have been played differently.

If my dad, who has several black belts in martial arts, was there, he would've beaten up the guy for hurting my sister. Likewise if my brother or boyfriend was there. What I'm wondering is would they go to jail for beating that guy up? I suppose I'm wondering the same for myself. If I was to somehow punch or kick the creep, would anything happen to me? Would that be considered self-defense since my sister was placed in my care? And could the dad who punched the sucker be arrested or something since the police arrested one of the guys in the fight. What exactly are the laws regarding public physical fighting? Any links that elaborate on this issue would be awesome!

Answer 1

The law is pretty clear on self defense. You are entitled to use reasonable force to defend yourself or others from attack. If your dad unloads on one of these punks and hurts him badly the police would have to look at whether or not what he did is reasonable. If for example he was attacking your sister and your dad intervened to stop it the degree of force used would probably be greater than a retalitory strike where the kid accidentally backed into your sister. You have to look at intent of the assailants, and the danger they posed to others. If the police arrive and subdue them they are supposed to use reasonable force - obviously if they shoot them out of hand that's not legal - same with your dad or any other martial artist - they should know how much force they can use. Too much is unacceptable even if these were punks who deserve a good kicking.