People v. Katz

Judgment of the County Court of Kings County convicting defendant of the crime of assault in the second degree reversed on the law and a new trial ordered. The complainant testified that the defendant emerged from a bar and grill, walked to the place where complainant was standing on the sidewalk immediately outside the grill, grabbed complainant by the lapel of his coat and then struck him one or more blows with his clenched fists, resulting in three fractures of the jaw. Witnesses for the defendant on the trial testified, in effect, that complainant struck the first blow and that defendant…