Assault & Battery Assault to abusive stepfather

[nokio869]

A friend of mine recently got into a fight with his stepfather over some trivial matter. The stepfather does have a criminal record. The stepfather apparently was verbally instigating a fight and the step son couldn't take it any longer and punched his stepfather in the head once. Can the stepson be arrested? What's the worst that can happen to him?

 

[NYClex]

It depends on a lot of details. First of all, which state that whole incident happened in. Then the exact details of what happened, if there was any injury, weapons involved etc.

Usually state criminal codes know several degrees of assault charges depending on those details.

It also depends on the living situation. If both lived in the same place, under some state laws it can be qualified as domestic violence which can, but need not always, alter the severity of the penalty.

Anyone starting a fight can also civilly be liable.