Start here.

Okay, since I don't much care about Massachusetts law -- or the People's Republic of Massachusetts, generally; not my cuppa -- let's pretend this happened in Minnesota, at the U.

Further, for the purposes of the thought experiment, let's assume that the reporting is good, but not complete. (We don't actually have to assume that it's not complete; it clearly isn't.)

What, beyond that, if anything, would we have to know to be true to make it right and/or proper for this guy to be prosecuted?

First, what led up to the point where windows were broken, and epithets yelled? Specifically, what actions by Mr. Vassell may or may not have precipitated these occurrences?

Second, how did we get from breaking the windows of Mr. Vassell's dormitory room into the lobby of the dormitory, where Mr. Vassell was struck by Mr. Bowes, and his nose was broken? Why would Mr. Vassell, who we can safely assume knows at this point that there are hostile people outside, go into the lobby? Assuming he went into the lobby with the knife to confront the two men, he is no longer a "reluctant participant", but a participant in "mutual combat".

Those are the two biggies, in my mind; specifically, the second one. If they had come into his dorm room, that to me presents a much stronger case for self-defense- but that's not what occurred, if we are assuming the news report to be correct in what it says, though incomplete.

Standard disclaimer: IANAL, YMMV, etc.

I find it hard to fathom anything he might have done (that is a chargeable offense) in order to induce someone to break windows and trespass into a residence hall .



This is where it starts to break down: did he chase them down and start stabbing them? How many is "multiple times"?

You mean if Bowes and Bosse were actually "undercover cops" on their way back to the precinct after a late night fishing for buy and busts (aka drinking) at the campus bars and, when passing the dorm, "smelled weed," peeked in the window to investigate, were noticed by Vassell who confronted them. They got into a shouting match and at some point, Bowes shouted, "If you don't go to the lobby and let us the f*k in, I am going to F*in kill you, you mutha f*kin' n***a!" Vassell scared out of his mind, because neither Bowes nor Bosse identified himself as law enforcement, had someone present called 911 and then, when the girls took off afraid, called his buddy to come hang with him. When he went to the door to let his buddy in, the two "undercovers" busted in intent on silencing Vassell, and Vassell, still thinking they were ordinary perps, defended himself.

Or maybe I'm just imagining a deja vu-ish event

Edited to add: Oh...you meant right and proper.

I tend to agree- there's not much that would induce the actors to act; still, it's worth exploring...

I also agree on the breakdown- how do we get from them breaking his window to him stabbing them in the lobby. Somewhere in there, I would guess we've lost "reluctant participant" status...

I'm not sure he was in the lobby when he stabbed them. The report said "outisde his dormitory". To me, the dormitory is the whole building. The lobby is outside of his dorm room. Outside the dormitory, to me, means outside the dormitory building. (With all the other caveats about sloppy reporting, etc)

I did a Google search for "the accused's" name and found other stories written about this incident.

According to these stories, after the window was broken, Vassell "called a friend for help". When said friend arrived, "the attackers" (Bosse and Bowes) forced their way in when the friend was granted access.

My first question would be "instead of calling a friend, why didn't he call police?" He was in a safe location, he had plenty of time. Second, what kind of help was he calling his friend for? To clean up glass? To replace a broken window at 4AM? Also, a fair amount of time must have passed before the friend actually arrived. Had he ignored them, by the time his friend arrived, they probably would have gotten bored and went home. When Vassell left his room, how did these guys know to go to the front door? What would make them think he would come outside. Vassell must have had some idea the situation would escalate. Why else would he have thought to bring the knife? I might have a pocket knife in the pocket of my jeans during the day for any number of reasons or functions.. but at 4AM in my dormitory, I'm probably going to be in my jammies. No place for a pocket knife there. The only reason i might change out of my jammies, is if i thought something might go down.

These are not in the facts, but my take on it is this: Window breaks, words are exchanged, a friend gets called. Why? To even the numbers when he goes outside to "sort things out". He had ample time to call the police, but didn't. Instead he goes to the lobby/entryway with a knife, to let in the friend. Maybe he didn't expect to actually engage these two, but he had the time and the forethought to grab his knife on his way down to the lobby.

I fail to see "reluctant participant" in any of this. This looks to me like a clear cut case of "mutual combat" as Jeremiah pointed out.

At least according to one report, the police had been called; he presumably knew that. Again -- and this is from a pro-Vassell site, but "partisan" and "liar" are not the same words -- he was worried that his attackers might come back before the police arrived.

My first approximation is here: http://www.windypundit.com/archives/200 ... _case.html . If the facts, as postulated, hold up I think the analysis should; if not, probably not.

It is not infrequent in the unfortunate history of white on black race crime for windows to be broken as a precursor to firebombs/ molotov cocktails being thrown. I am not aquaited with a good defense against a firebombing once the window is breached. That could get Vassell out to where the follow up attack occurred and was actively resisted.

The use of the term "small knife" seems to imply it wasn't his daddy's Kabar. He found himself in a two on one & wanted to up the odd of not getting curb stomped on the nearest step.


On the other hand, if we are hypothetically thinking of what would justify these charges. . . . the broken window was Vassell trying to cover up what was in fact a drug deal gone wrong. Dealing out of his dorm, he intended to sell oregano to the dumb white kids, the dumb white kids realized it wasn't weed and punched him in the nose, so Mr. Vassel stabbed them and then broke his own window and made up the racial issue to cover it up. Admittedly thin, but it would be possible.

This is where I get that from:

The lesson I see here is: let them come to you, if at all practical.