Opinion ID: 871215
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Complainant's Testimony

Text: Respondent's step-son Justin (Complainant) was fourteen years old at the time of the incident. As of that date, he had been living with his mother (Mother) and Respondent for approximately five years, and he and Respondent never really got along. On September 30, 2007, Complainant was sitting in the game room of his home watching video programs with his cousin Chad (Cousin), when Respondent entered and told Complainant to feed his dog. Complainant told Respondent that he would do it in five minutes and when five minutes had elapsed, he fed the dog and cleaned the dog's bowl. According to Complainant, Respondent then noticed a stain on the floor that the dog had made, and Respondent instructed Complainant to clean it up. When Complainant told Respondent that he couldn't because it was a stain[,] Respondent stated, I bet I could get it out. [6] In response, Complainant answered, I bet you not. Respondent then told Complainant that if Respondent was able to get the stain out, Complainant was going to be grounded for a year. Complainant then told Respondent that if Respondent could not, Complainant would get to kick [Respondent] in the leg and Respondent said okay. Respondent had recently had surgery on his leg and was walking with a cast that extended from his hip to the ball of his foot, with the aid of crutches. When Respondent left the room, Complainant slammed the door because he was mad[,] thinking he was about to lose the bet since Respondent works with carpet and he was pretty sure Respondent could get [the stain] out. Immediately after, Respondent slammed the door back open, and ... pushed [Complainant] and he fell [] backwards into the glass door. When Complainant got up, Respondent pushe[d Complainant] back down. Complainant then grabbed the crutch that had fallen on the floor. According to Complainant, he did so because he knew that Respondent could not run or walk without the crutches and Complainant thought he could get away by grabbing them. Complainant explained that as he was holding the crutch sideways and about to run on the side of [Respondent,] Respondent pushed the crutch toward [Complainant] and punched [him] in the face five times[.] When Complainant got to his knees and covered [his] head because his face hurt, Respondent punched [him] on the back of [his] head [] two or three times. When asked to describe the force used, Complainant stated that the punches were hard enough to break [his] nose and that the same amount of force was used by Respondent when punching the back of Complainant's head. Complainant subsequently noticed that his nose was bleeding and that his face was swollen. His nose stopped bleeding after about half-an-hour and healed in about a week. Complainant also stated that his teeth were chipped, and he had them fixed by his dentist. When Mother came home, he related what happened to her. Complainant, Cousin, and Mother left the home and went straight to K-Mart[,] then to church[,] and after church, to the hospital where Complainant was treated for his injuries. When Complainant was asked whether he had ever act[ed] like [he] was going to hit [Respondent], he responded, I don't think so[,] or [i]f I did, I didn't mean to. He explained, I may have looked like I did, but I didn't actually do it. According to Complainant, he had tried to move past Respondent while holding the crutch, but never towards him. However, Complainant conceded on cross-examination that when he stood up with [the] crutch, ... [he] figured that [Respondent] thought [Complainant was] going to whack him with it.