Valek v. Ballaro

A serious, painful and permanent dislocation of her left shoulder is said by the plaintiff to have followed an unwarranted and unprovoked assault upon her by the defendant. By way of justification, the defendant has countered with the claim that the plaintiff initiated the incident by assaulting him and that he, in self-defense, "necessarily pushed the plaintiff a little, doing her no unnecessary harm."

The events leading to the plaintiff's injury concerned themselves wholly with the disputed ownership of an unprepossessing mongrel, which had either wandered or been brought into a tenement…