There was a seat and a good wife between the two and as far as the victim knew a manager who was going to be there shortly.
All the ex-cop had to do was sit down and shut up and say to himself: “Curtis — just watch the movie” — and the argument is over especially when or if the manager gets there.
But of course doing that in your book would have been retreating — really???
What happened next was in his hands.
He chose not to reciprocate with popcorn of his own or Milk Duds, but to escalate but not with a push, or a slap, or a punch for which he might get one in return — but all the way with deadly force that he secretly had and his opponent didn’t.
It was not only a criminal act — it was the height of cowardice. And as he sits in his jail cell he knows it.
Did I use the word "retreating"? I can't find it. I did suggest that it might not be practical to "flee" given that there might have been other people in the way.
I'm still wondering where your certainty comes from regarding the defendant's knowledge of what was thrown, what other weapons the attacker might have, and what the attacker's intentions were. It's pretty obvious that the attacker's wife had sufficient concern to physically intervene. Why didn't she just stay in her seat and let the episode play out? What consequences was she anticipating? Was she behaving as if her husband was going to suffer great bodily harm or was she concerned about somebody else?
Did the attacker say something to her?
If we found out that the victim had been armed, legally or not, would that change things?
If the attacker had said to his wife, prior to the attack, "I'm gonna punch that M---- F-----'s lights out", would that make a difference?