WWE performer Ludwig Kaiser has filed a motion to dismiss a misdemeanor battery charge stemming from an April incident in Florida. The filing invokes the state's Stand Your Ground law and presents Kaiser's account of events.
Ludwig Kaiser, whose real name is Marcel Barthel and who performs as El Grande Americano, was arrested in May on the battery charge. The case involves an altercation with Richard Reap in an elevator.
Kaiser's legal team filed the motion ahead of a pre-trial conference. It argues that Kaiser acted in self-defense after Reap approached aggressively and made offensive remarks directed at Kaiser's girlfriend, AAA interviewer Andrea Bazarte.
According to the filing, the couple was hugging when Reap allegedly said, "Have some respect before I call ICE on that bitch." Kaiser claims he pushed Reap twice to create distance after Reap raised his hands and advanced, and that Reap threw a soft drink bottle without further response from Kaiser.
The defense seeks to have the charges dismissed under Florida's Stand Your Ground law, which permits the use of force when a person reasonably believes it is necessary to prevent imminent unlawful force.
