Recent Posts in ASSAULT AND BATTERY Category

Paul Smith, a 49-year-old Long Beach man, facing charges of murder and torture for the 1988 stabbing death of his high school friend, was recently indicted in the Orange County Superior Court on additional charges of conspiring to assault a witness and a police detective in the homicide case.  Smith’s girlfriend was also charged in connection with the attempted assault.   

Smith was linked earlier this year to the 1988 slaying of Robert Haugen through DNA evidence entered into the national database after Smith’s 2007 domestic violence arrest in Nevada.  According to published reports, while in custody, he attempted to hire a man to assault the witness and the detective.  The man, however, turned out to be an undercover detective.

Smith is alleged to have stabbed Haugen multiple times, nearly decapitating him, before setting the body on fire.  His original indictment included a charge of special circumstance murder making him eligible for the death penalty.  With these new allegations, he now stands accused of conspiracy to commit assault, attempted assault and two felony counts of solicitation to commit assault as well.      

Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson was arrested last week on charges of misdemeanor battery.  The incident stemmed from an altercation between Tyson and a media photographer at the Los Angeles Airport.  Tyson's blow knocked the photographer to the ground and left him with a cut to the forehead.  

Tyson, however, who was with his wife and 10-month old child at the time, claims he was merely acting in self-defense, and defense of his child, after being attacked by the the photographer. 

Both men were booked and released and both want charges pressed against the other. 

While the photographer's name and history remains a mystery, Tyson's past troubles with the law, including charges of domestic violence, drug use and rape, as well as his public displays of uncontrolled anger and ear-biting, have been well-publicized.    

Has Tyson's infamous temper struck again or is this just another all too familiar case of paparazzi stalking?  We'll have to let the evidence speak for itself.