Let's pretend old man stood up from his seat after initial assault by younger guy. The younger guy is still facing older guy, but now they are face-to-face. Does younger guy fear that older guy is standing with intent to confront him and physically retaliate? Is younger guy within his rights to throw a punch because old guy stood up, and young guy perceived this as threatening behavior?
Would old guy be obligated to inform younger guy that he planned to stand up with the intention of contacting law enforcement? Is old guy obligated to sit still until the younger guy makes his next move, whether it be a solid fist, or heeding his wife and sitting down?
[[Is old guy obligated to sit still until the younger guy makes his next move, whether it be a solid fist, or heeding his wife and sitting down?]]
Or worse- whether it be a knife or gun even- it was dark- the man was swinging at the older guy- you bring up several great points- Had he stood- the other hothead likely would have exploded thinking the old man was challenging him- meanwhile old man likely can’t see if the younger man is holding a weapon- all these things have to be taken into account to try to determine the frame of mind of all involved- in a reasonable manner- it’s certainly not as clear cut as “older hothead with gun wanted ot enforce his alpha persona, and wanted to just fire his weapon on someone, and so he shot younger fella” - his immediate reaction to the whole incident ‘suggests’ that he reacted instinctively to a situation that he perceived, rightly or wrongly, to be a dangerous situation