I am looking forward to Gianforte’s conviction for the crime of assault. I fervently hope the victim brings a civil lawsuit for damages.
Here’s a fun law fact: If a person is convicted of a crime, that conviction is irrefutable proof of liability in a civil lawsuit. The doctrine is “res judicata,” Latin for “the thing has been adjudicated.”
Bonus fun law fact, the case used in my first year law school textbook to illustrate this principle was a dude convicted of arson, who subsequently sued his insurance company to recover on his fire insurance policy. He lost.
Unlike a criminal case, Gianforte can’t refuse to testify in a civil suit. Among other things, it would be fun to see him grilled on the stand about his effort to lie his way out of the charge—until multiple witnesses in a Fox news crew blew that out of the water.
Assholes like this will never feel shame, but if the FSM is kind, they can be embarrassed.
Please dear Guardian, fund this lawsuit.