Hathaway v. Hatchard

This is an action for an assault and battery. The defendant’s answer is merely a general denial. The plaintiff put in evidence tending to show that the assault upon him was committed without any provocation on his part. The defendant’s evidence tended to show that, while he was engaged in an altercation with a third person, the plaintiff approached him from behind with a club ; that, his attention being called to this by one McDonald, he turned and discovered the plaintiff with the club raised in his hands in the act of striking at the defendant ; that the defendant put up his hands and…