I don't know exactly how the justice system works in Canada, but in the U.S., there are likely very few areas where he could get away with a self defense plea, self-defense pretty much flys out the window when she turned her back to him and walked away, anything after that point is assault on his part, the police not knowing the situation likely took down the one they viewed as most physically threatening, which is almost always the male. Police are generally trained in the escalation of force and in most cases, a woman is not physically threatening enough to the average male police officer to warrant the physical restraint that gets employed against male suspects. Is it fair? No, but then again, cops know that tackling and tasering a 100 pound woman is going to be a lot harder to justify than the 200 pound man.
In the case of the man himself, in the U.S., whether someone would be charged in a situation like this is probably going to be up to the judge, in the cases I've seen, the judge can and will throw the charges out if he thinks the situation was heated enough and no lasting damage happens. In most cases, even if someone is charged, it's generally little more than some community service or a fine, a full battery charge is rare, it could just be an assault charge, or something else, but most judges will take extenuating circumstances into account, and I've never seen a similar case result in any real jailtime or serious consequences for the person that struck back. The law would consider the man in the wrong, but it's doubtful that he would face the same consequences as if he had attacked first.
If he had beaten her more severely, then yes, a full charge would likely result, potentially being worse than the charge against the woman, you generally receive leniency if you were attacked first, but it depends on how far you escalate after the initial attack. A judge will quickly lose their pity if you try and justify breaking someones bones after they hit you once and back off, there's a definite limit to how far the law will bend in cases of taking self-defense too far.
In the case of the man himself, in the U.S., whether someone would be charged in a situation like this is probably going to be up to the judge, in the cases I've seen, the judge can and will throw the charges out if he thinks the situation was heated enough and no lasting damage happens. In most cases, even if someone is charged, it's generally little more than some community service or a fine, a full battery charge is rare, it could just be an assault charge, or something else, but most judges will take extenuating circumstances into account, and I've never seen a similar case result in any real jailtime or serious consequences for the person that struck back. The law would consider the man in the wrong, but it's doubtful that he would face the same consequences as if he had attacked first.
If he had beaten her more severely, then yes, a full charge would likely result, potentially being worse than the charge against the woman, you generally receive leniency if you were attacked first, but it depends on how far you escalate after the initial attack. A judge will quickly lose their pity if you try and justify breaking someones bones after they hit you once and back off, there's a definite limit to how far the law will bend in cases of taking self-defense too far.
