Comments by "MarcosElMalo2" (@MarcosElMalo2) on "Is Mutual Combat Legal Anywhere in the US?" video.

Thanks for this, Steve. I’m going to consult an attorney before I get into a game of slugabug or front hand/back hand. This vid also brought to mind the joke about the two gentleman who decided to settle a dispute with a ball kicking contest. The gentleman who kicked first immediately concedes the contest after delivering a mighty kick to the other gentleman’s junk. The version I heard was a hunter who killed a deer or goose or some such on the property of a farmer, and the farmer recovered the animal before the hunter can. The farmer then proposes the contest and goes first.
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Investigators usually question witnesses about the circumstances. Was there an argument, was there a history of disputes, were fighting words uttered by any of the participants? So if you and someone in a bar wanted to go outside and spar, you both would want to engage in some dialogue loudly and clearly in front of witnesses. “Hey friend, would you like to go outside and spar for a bit?” “Why certainly! I was hoping you’d ask. Are there any stakes?” “Winner buys the next round.” “Sounds good, friend.” Everyone in the bar hears this exchange of words, and you got yourself a defense.
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@DaZeroHero Yeah, the sports exception starts about 2:45. Context and circumstances matter here. Did the conduct take place at a boxing gym or martial arts studio? Did the consenting individuals have a history of participating in martial arts? If yes, this would support the defense. If no, it could be part of rebutting the consent defense. Other circumstantial factors could come from other witnesses: did the participants have an argument before the fight? Was there a history of antagonism between participants? Another factor that investigators would look at is the seriousness of the bodily injuries. They might look at the conduct of the fight in terms of norms of sport. Was one participant of a purported boxing match kicking the other while he was on the ground? Is there indication that one or more participants go too far? (There have been successful prosecutions of MMA fighters for assault.)
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Ben Dover The good old S/M defense? To win, you’d probably have to show a history of engaging in the hobby of S/M. Let’s look at a case of suspected domestic abuse. It’s not unheard of for the victim of the abuse to defend the abuser—there are laws on the books that allow prosecution anyway although such cases can be very difficult to win if the witness doesn’t cooperate. There are also going to be situations where the victim has been intimidated into claiming there was consent in an ordinary assault. This could apply to the domestic abuse and the S/M situation, too. I don’t know for a fact, but I think one factor would be the level of injury. Visible marks, cuts, and scrapes would be one level. Broken bones, fractures, and the like would be a more serious level. I think that in some situations, prosecutors would bring charges against the top for S/M activities if they resulted in serious bodily injuries, such as fractured or broken bones, even if the bottom claimed consent. They would be looking at circumstantial evidence as well as victim/witness testimony. Investigators might ask the neighbors if there was a history of domestic fighting. There might be hospital records from previous incidents.
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You misunderstood. There is a law governing the conduct of assault, and there are parts of the law or other laws that provide for the legal exceptions, such as sports. “Mutual combat” is covered by the criminal statute since there is no exception for it, although you could try to use it as a defense.
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There are laws governing the behavior that define it as criminal conduct. The question is are there laws that carve out exceptions to the criminal law? At around 2:40, Steve discusses the common sports exception using the example of boxing, but you might have difficulty claiming that a mutually agreed upon fight was merely participating in a sport. But even so, your argument that mutual fighting is legal because it is not covered by the law falls flat. It most certainly is covered by the law unless there is a law that delineates an exception.
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This falls under the Slugabug exception. See the Supreme Court case Mom vs Sally and Bobby, where the court reversed the lower court decision that “if you kids don’t knock it off, I’m pulling over and you can walk home”.
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