BALTIMORE (LifeSiteNews) — A man who kicked an elderly pro-life witness in the face, leaving him with a permanent eye injury, has been acquitted of first-degree assault.

On June 25, Judge Yvette M. Bryant of the Circuit Court of Baltimore City acquitted Patrick Brice of the charge of first-degree assault on the grounds that he had been “provoked” by the pro-life witness he damaged, Mark Crosby, who was then 73.

Terrell N. Roberts, III, the attorney for Mark Crosby, stated in a press release obtained by LifeSiteNews today that this acquittal was “a miscarriage of justice that should never have happened.”

“A first-degree assault is committed when a person intentionally causes serious physical injury to another person,” he stated. “Here there was no dispute that Brice caused a serious physical injury to Mark Crosby.”

According to the attorney, the video of the event shows that Crosby, who was lying defenseless on the ground, “was kicked in the face by Brice.”

“It was not a soft kick, but one with full force, like a NFL player kicking a 50-yard field goal,” Roberts continued.

“The kick fractured the orbit around the eye, ruptured the globe, and resulted in a condition in which Crosby’s pupil does not work normally and cannot close, making him extremely sensitive to bright light. According to his doctor, Crosby has a permanent disability impairment as a result.  This is about as clear-cut case of a first-degree assault as one could ever find.”

However, the judge found Brice not guilty of first-degree assault upon Mark Crosby because the older man had “provoked” him by running in his direction.

“She explained that when Crosby came running out of the street in the direction where his friend [aged over 80] was just brutally assaulted by Brice, he was provoked,” Roberts reported and added:

Provocation can be a circumstance that is a defense to a first-degree assault. But not in this case. Provocation must be something that the law recognizes as such. What Crosby did can never be called legally adequate provocation. By all accounts, Crosby ran to his friend to protect and help him if he could. He did not run over to engage in a mutual affray with Brice, who was much younger, bigger and stronger than he was. At 6’2” and 200 lbs, Brice outmatched Crosby in every way possible. Instead, Crosby reacted as a friend would and wanted to help his friend and protect him if he could. This is what any moral person would do.

Roberts stated also that the judge’s decision that this counted as “legally adequate provocation” was “absurd.”

“The Judge was plainly wrong and misapplied the law,” he added. “She should have known better.”

According to his attorney, Mark Crosby’s own response to the judgement was “What else can you expect? It’s Baltimore City.”

Roberts called this remark unfortunate and said that any visitor to the City of Baltimore—which he underscored is in America—has the right to expect that a judge there “will apply the law correctly and give him the same rights as anyone else.”

LifeSiteNews previously reported that pro-life activists Mark Crosby and Dick Schaefer were attacked while engaging in their pro-life sidewalk ministry outside the Planned Parenthood abortion facility on North Howard Street in Baltimore in May 2023.

Video of the attack released by Baltimore Police clearly shows the extreme violence of Brice’s attack on Crosby and Schaefer.

Brice, then 28 years old, can be seen rushing toward Schaefer, tackling him across a large concrete planter and then to the ground.

When Crosby came to Schaefer’s aid, Brice knocked Crosby off his feet, sending him crashing onto the brick sidewalk. Brice next straddled Crosby to punch him in the face. He then kicked the septuagenarian in the head before walking off.

Crosby told LifeSiteNews that he ended up in a hospital’s shock trauma unit for three days following the attack for treatment of serious injuries to his skull and eye socket as well as his knees and fingers. His right eye was blinded, and he suffered a concussion.

He was also of the opinion that the vicious assault should be regarded as an anti-Catholic hate crime because Brice also ripped off the crucifix and chain he was wearing around his neck.

A jury found Brice guilty of the lesser charges of second-degree assault and reckless endangerment in February 2025.

Updated.