Son assault demesne

SON ASSAULT DEMESNE, pleading. His own first assault. A form of a plea to justify an assault and battery, by which the defendant asserts that the plaintiff committed an assault upon him, and the defendant merely defended himself.
     2. When the plea is supported by evidence, it is a sufficient justification, unless the retaliation by the defendant were excessive, and bore no proportion to the necessity, or to the provocation received. 1 East, P. C. 406; 1 Chit. Pr. 595.

A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States. By John Bouvier. Published 1856.