People v. Richards CA1/5

BACKGROUND

Benjamin V.1 was sitting at a slot machine at the Lucky 7 Casino when his brother, Allen V., returned from the bar and said someone at the bar was “talking crap” about Asians and wanted to fight him. Intending to deescalate the situation, Benjamin walked over to the bar with Allen, sat down next to

The brothers share a common surname. For clarity, we 1

will use the brothers’ first names. 1 Richards, and asked “what’s up? What’s the issue between you and my brother?”

Richards did not respond, so Benjamin stood up to leave. Suddenly Richards punched him in the face, knocking him out. Richards landed two more punches to Benjamin’s head as he lay unconscious on the floor. Security footage of the assault was played to the jury.

Richards’s blows dislodged both of Benjamin’s top front teeth and broke one of his lower teeth. He also suffered a black eye and eye pain; dizziness and light sensitivity; a fractured upper jawbone; and facial pain and swelling.

Richards denied having said anything about Asians or challenging Allen in any way. He testified he was sitting at the bar when Benjamin, with Allen in tow, approached from behind, said “I heard you were talking crap…