Law&Crime Sidebar - Could Joey Chestnut Face Charges For Choking Animal Rights Activist?

Starting point is 00:00:00 Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondry Plus in the Wondery app Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Agent Nate Russo returns in Oracle 3, Murder at the Grandview, the latest installment of the gripping Audible Original series. When a reunion at an abandoned island hotel turns deadly, Russo must untangle accident from murder. But beware, something sinister lurks in the grand. View Shadows. Joshua Jackson delivers a bone-chilling performance in this supernatural thriller that

Starting point is 00:00:35 will keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. It was the moment that went absolutely viral over the July 4th weekend. Hot Dog Eating Champ Joey Chestnut is seen on tape choking out a protester in the middle of the Nathan's competition. But could he be in trouble? trial attorney and long crime network host bob bionki joins the discuss welcome to sidebar presented by law and crime i'm jesse webber you would think that a hot dog eating contest would just be fun in games well not so because at the nathan's famous fourth of july hot dog eating

Starting point is 00:01:22 contest in coney island new york joey jaws chestnut won his 15th win 63 dogs and bun in 10 minutes, but that was only after he got into a violent altercation with a protester. In videos that recorded the event during the contest, a masked animal rights protester wearing a Darth Vader mask and holding a sign that says exposed Smithfield's death star referencing Smithfield Foods that supplies the meat for Nathan's, this protester jumps on the stage and then chestnut can be seen throwing the guy in a chokehold and tossing him to the ground. And chestnut just keeps on eating as if nothing happened and then wins the title. Now, according to TMZ, police took three people into custody and charges are pending.

Starting point is 00:02:14 But what about chestnut? Could he be sued for this? Could he face any charges? Joining me now is former head prosecutor, trial attorney Bob Bianchi. Bob, great to see him. Hey, great to be on the show, Jesse. Great to see you too. So I see this, right?

Starting point is 00:02:28 anything here against chestnut that you see I mean was he defending himself no Jesse when I used to have to make these charging decisions as a prosecutor I tried to use the rule of reason and not just work on technicalities and I think citizens have gotten to the point right now where they feel like they can protest in any manner way shape or form that makes them feel good without recognizing that this guy sees some as far as he's concerned I would imagine a maniac charging towards him with a mask on and you don't have to even hit him literally he's in fear of his life he's getting into the hot dog eating guy's face and the guy reacts and I used to look at those cases like well you know what you don't come in here with clean hands I have to prove a case beyond the reasonable doubt to 12 jurors that you committed a crime and I'd never like to go after the guy who initiated the encounter especially if there was not cess of force and let's give the last point it's a personal one it's not necessarily a prosecutorial one any guy that can continue to eat 63 hot dogs why he's in the middle of throwing a chokehold you got to have Hashtag respect, Jesse.

Starting point is 00:03:29 I mean, on social media, he's being hailed a hero right now. He doesn't break a stride and he wins the competition. But, I mean, the use of the chokehold, I think that came out of left field. I don't think anybody was expecting such a swift move. It almost looked like he snapped the guy's neck. Now, luckily, that didn't happen. The use of that maneuver as opposed to pushing the guy away or hitting him, does that affect anything? I've had a big problem with the use of this term chokehold for a long time, Jesse.

Starting point is 00:03:52 I think that it's being used very loosely in terms of cut off his air supply. Did it cut off his blood supply? It seems a bit from the video, it did none of those things. So we use the term, the fact that somebody puts their arm around somebody's neck and called a chokehold is not necessarily as straight out what a chokehold is. That said, putting your arm around somebody's neck is obviously much more serious and could cause more serious injury than if you punch somebody in the stomach. And that's why a lot of times the prosecutorial decision is driven by the level of the injury

Starting point is 00:04:22 that's actually created. Here being none to me does not make a difference. You know, when you're defending yourself, you know, again, it gets to a point where people are getting in your face, you respond because somebody happens to be a better fighter and winds up standing up. A lot of times they're called the defendant and the person on the ground is called the victim, despite the fact that the victim is the one who provoked the whole event in the first place. I've never been a fan of that logic. The guy kind of nudged his way in there. Physical, it wasn't as if he just stood off the side and was yelling loudly and then put into a chokehold. Much, much different situation.

Starting point is 00:04:53 If somebody's yelling, screaming, protesting, then physical force is not appropriate. But he's moving towards him and nudging through the crowd. As you say, now, we don't know all the facts. I mean, from what I understand, he moved very quickly towards that level where somebody would be nervous. I mean, you don't have to wait until somebody actually assaults or kills you before you respond. Other than criminal liability, civil liability, let's say the guy sues Joey Chestnut, First Amendment right to protest this. You had no right to put your hands on me.

Starting point is 00:05:21 And, you know, I don't know what the guy's injuries are. right now, if any. But what about a lawsuit? When you evaluate any civil lawsuit, of course, a different standard applies. It's usually by our preponderance of the evidence as opposed to proof beyond a reasonable doubt. So it's a little bit easier. But the bottom line is you have to find some level of intentional assault or negligence. And you get right to the most important point when I used to practice civil law. One of the first things you say is, and I used to use this example, if you're walking to get hit by a car and you pick yourself up and thrust yourself off, you go home, you have no injuries. That's not a good civil case. The liability for the

Starting point is 00:05:53 person that hit you may be 100%, but you're only allowed to be compensated for that in order to make up for the injury that you sustain. However, if you're walking across the street and somebody goes to a stop sign hits you and you break your leg or God forbid have more serious injuries, then your compensation is going to be higher. From a practical point of view, a lawyer takes a case on usually in a civil case for a percentage and a percentage is zero is zero. So a lawyer is very keenly aware of whether or not there's significant damages in the case. That said, from a purest legal point of view, Jesse, if they just want to go forward with it, there's going to be an issue here as to whether or not he was negligent, that is the hot dog eating guy,

Starting point is 00:06:32 or whether or not he felt he was defending himself. I just don't see this kind of civil suit I would take on as a lawyer. The only way I could see a lawyer taking it on is if they want to get some notoriety or some publicity. If it makes into any courtroom, there's no shortage of video evidence and eyewitness evidence to what actually transpired between the two. Bob Bianchi, thank you so much for coming out to Sidebar. Appreciate it. Always great to see you, Jesse.

Starting point is 00:06:55 Thanks for joining us here on Sidebar. Make sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcast. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time. You can binge all episodes of this long crime series ad free right now on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

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Law&Crime Sidebar - Could Joey Chestnut Face Charges For Choking Animal Rights Activist?

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