Thanks for the answers. I asked just because it seemed serious, but also not serious because it did not last very long. As I said, I really was just curious about the laws.

In the aftermath. It turns out that when I hit him, I knocked his jaw out of alignment. Which he seemed to think he deserved. I offered to pay any doctor bills. He declined. He said he regretted not having embraced me when I arrived, which is what he had really wanted to do.

Like I said, he is a nice guy, just the circumstances got so strange so quickly.

Thank you very much. I am really very grateful that there is a forum like this available for legal questions and that even questions such as this are answered. You are wonderful.