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An Assaulter Broke Rand Paul’s Ribs. His Trial Is Now Underway.

   DailyWire.com

On November 3, 2017, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) was physically assaulted by a neighbor living in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The neighbor, Rene Boucher, is a retired anesthesiologist. The Daily Wire reported, at the time:

Kentucky State Police arrested a man who allegedly attacked Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) at his home on Friday in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Authorities arrested Rene Boucher, 59, of Bowling Green for “intentionally assaulting” Paul outside his home, according to WKBO.

Police charged Boucher with one count of fourth-degree assault and transported him to the Warren County Detention Center.

This past June, Boucher was sentenced to 30 days in prison, following his guilty plea to the federal prosecution initiated by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana. The New York Times reported:

A neighbor of Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky was sentenced Friday to 30 days in prison after pleading guilty to felony assault for tackling the lawmaker last year, a spokesman for federal prosecutors said. The attack was fueled by irritation over a pile of debris.

The neighbor, Rene A. Boucher, 60, of Bowling Green, Ky., was also sentenced to one year of probation and a $10,000 fine, said Tim Horty, a spokesman for the United States attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, in a phone interview.

Boucher also had to perform 100 hours of community service, in addition to his jail time, probation sentence, and $10,000 monetary fine.

In addition to the federal criminal prosecution, Paul has also filed a state civil suit against Boucher. The trial began Monday in local circuit court in Bowling Green. The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that Paul’s testimony at trial included his recollection that he had trouble breathing and “had the thought that he might die:”

Paul, 55, pushed back strongly against the suggestion he’d done anything to prompt the attack, however, saying he never piled limbs or other waste on the property line.

Paul testified that when Rene Boucher tackled him Nov. 3, 2017, he immediately began having trouble breathing and, with Boucher still on his back, had the thought that he might die.

“The thought crossed my mind, ‘I may never get up from this lawn,’” Paul told jurors.

Paul is seeking up to $500,000 in damages to compensate him for pain and suffering and up to $1 million to punish Boucher.

The neighborly dispute between Paul and Boucher allegedly began over trimmed tree limbs and yard waste that Boucher claims Paul piled up along the property line.

Punitive damages, such as the $1 million that Paul seeks (in addition to the $500,000 he seeks in compensatory damages), are generally rarely granted in civil actions. States often place statutory limits on the size of punitive damage awards, and the U.S. Supreme Court has previously declared that some excessive punitive damage awards risk unconstitutionality on Due Process Clause grounds. In State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. v. Campbell, the Supreme Court in 2003 held that the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause places limits on a state court’s ability to award punitive damages. Nonetheless, no such constitutional concerns ought to be at issue in Paul’s suit.

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