Nope. That was what the cop was telling me. If I pressed charges against the bum for his assault, my name would become public record. Making it a simple matter for the bum to sue me... By not pressing charges, the bum didn't have any way to identify me, so therefore no suit... That was the cops point... even though I was legally justified to use the pepper spray, and even if the court agreed, the bum could still sue me... and pressing charges would give him the information he needed to do so... Yet another reason, I consider California a cess pool...