STrib: Philip Nelson to plead guilty in Mankato assault

[Breakin' The Plane]

re-read the chain of events. nelson initiated the first contact, then kolstad retaliated, then shelley did the damage, the nelson finished him off. it started with #9

I'm aware of the chain of events. Assault is tricky. You can argue that by pushing/shoving someone, you were attempting to gain separation from them when they became confrontational with you. A punch on the other hand, is designed to inflict harm on another. That's why oftentimes when police show up at the scene of a fight, they aren't concerned with who shoved who, they are concerned with who threw the first punch.

 

[bleedsmaroonandgold]

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Bruce Kolstad: "Here is my spin on everything that happened before the actual video evidence. Please disregard the eight second video that shows my son charge at a man from behind and deliver a sucker punch that he had no opportunity to see coming or protect himself from, because that is a totally proportional response to a shove which happened earlier in the evening."

 

[Spoofin]

Why on earth do so many people think "he started it" is a defense? Are you 12? PN kicked an unconscious guy in the head. Period.


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[Tater]

Why on earth do so many people think "he started it" is a defense? Are you 12? PN kicked an unconscious guy in the head. Period. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Exactly. You can't kick someone on the ground in the head. That's a crime.

 

[sconnygopher]

Exactly. You can't kick someone on the ground in the head. That's a crime.

It is a crime and he pleaded guilty to the charge. What else should be done?

 

[Costa Rican Gopher]

This is just a travesty. Nelson may have permanently ruined another person's life and gets the equivalent of a "slap on the wrist". Unreal.

The prosecution experts said there's no reason to believe it was Nelson's kick that injured Kolstad. They believe it was either Shelley's punch or Kolstad smashing his head on the concrete.

 

[Costa Rican Gopher]

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Seems like Dad forgot a few events on his timeline like 1) Kolstad actively participating in the argument. Kolstad's buddy said Kolstad "was easily agitated" and something else to that effect that I'm not going to look up. i.e. He was happy to get right into with Nelson. He was not a victim of a verbal assault, it was heated argument between them. 2) Kolstad and Nelson are actively engaged in a heated argument when Kolstad turns his sights on the girlfriend and starts insulting her. Where I come from, a man doesn't start calling a woman names like that, much less in front of her angry boyfriend, unless he's trying to provoke a fight. 3) After Nelson shoved Kolstad in retaliation for the insults to the girlfriend, they are separated. Cooler heads have prevailed. Time has elapsed, Nelson is walking away when Kolstad gets a run at him from behind (like a coward) and throws a sucker-punch that sends Nelson and another grown man to the concrete.

 

[Costa Rican Gopher]

re-read the chain of events. nelson initiated the first contact, then kolstad retaliated, then shelley did the damage, the nelson finished him off. it started with #9

Incorrect. After Kolstad insulted the girl, Nelson shoved him. Kolstad could have shoved him right back at that moment and that would have been retaliation. There's still no crime involved at this point.

However, waiting for it to be broken up, then getting a run and throwing a massive sucker-punch from behind as Nelson walked away, is no longer retaliation. It's either an escalation by Kolstad, or it initiates a new sequence of events which Kolstad starts, depending on how you see it.

 

[Costa Rican Gopher]

Exactly. You can't kick someone on the ground in the head. That's a crime.

Agreed. Kolstad committed a crime, Nelson committed a crime and Shelley may or may not have committed a crime. Nelson pled guilty to his crime and received what sounds like a pretty standard sentence. What did you expect the electric chair?

 

[AO54]

Agreed. Kolstad committed a crime, Nelson committed a crime and Shelley may or may not have committed a crime. Nelson pled guilty to his crime and received what sounds like a pretty standard sentence. What did you expect the electric chair?

What part of "Kolstad was not charged with a crime" didn't you understand?

 

[bleedsmaroonandgold]

Why on earth do so many people think "he started it" is a defense? Are you 12? PN kicked an unconscious guy in the head. Period.


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Don't know if this was directed at my comment. If so, I don't think it is a defense, and I am on record calling Nelson a coward and a criminal, and I think he got off pretty easy. But "he started it" is also not a defense for Kolstad taking a run at Nelson to deliver a blind side sucker punch, so I get really sick of Kolstad and his family trying to make him sound like some totally innocent victim whom Nelson just found lying on the side of the road and decided to come kick. As far as I am concerned, Kolstad and Nelson are both cowards and thugs. One of them lost the remainder of his collegiate football career, the other suffered some very severe injuries. Harsh lessons, but actions have consequences, and they were both complicit in this mess.

 

[GoldenRodents]

Tell your sons: Bad things happen after midnight outside of bars.

 

[Winnipegopher]

If I had to guess, the Kolstad's are laying the ground for a civil suit.

 

[MNVCGUY]

Don't know if this was directed at my comment. If so, I don't think it is a defense, and I am on record calling Nelson a coward and a criminal, and I think he got off pretty easy. But "he started it" is also not a defense for Kolstad taking a run at Nelson to deliver a blind side sucker punch, so I get really sick of Kolstad and his family trying to make him sound like some totally innocent victim whom Nelson just found lying on the side of the road and decided to come kick. As far as I am concerned, Kolstad and Nelson are both cowards and thugs. One of them lost the remainder of his collegiate football career, the other suffered some very severe injuries. Harsh lessons, but actions have consequences, and they were both complicit in this mess.

Very well stated. There are no innocent victims in this case no matter what Kolstad's dad would like you to believe (that video clip is unreal, according to his dad Isaac wishes him good luck at Rutgers and Nelson assaults him for it....yep that sounds rational....definitely no bias in there).

The only thing that really surprises me about all this is that everyone talks about Kolstad and Nelson but no one really brings up Shelly and his role in what went down.

 

[MNVCGUY]

If I had to guess, the Kolstad's are laying the ground for a civil suit.

No doubt about it. But it would seem like their civil suit should be targeted at Shelly and not Nelson because according to the medical examiner it was Shelly's hit and subsequent contact with the pavement that caused the brain damage and not Nelson's kick.

 

[UpnorthGo4]

No doubt about it. But it would seem like their civil suit should be targeted at Shelly and not Nelson because according to the medical examiner it was Shelly's hit and subsequent contact with the pavement that caused the brain damage and not Nelson's kick.

That is not exactly what the medical examiner said. But it doesn't really matter. Both Nelson and Shelly are going to be sued and the jury will decide what percentage each defendant is responsible to pay. There will be plenty of expert witnesses to advise the jury how to decide the case. No doubt the bar will be sued as well.

Kolstad is going to win the civil suit but whatever money he is able to collect will not begin to compensate him for the physical damage that was inflicted on him. Kolstad is the victim here and Nelson and Shelly are the perpetrators. Nobody in Minnesota is ever going to forget that Nelson kicked an unconscious human being in the head. That is going to follow him for the rest of his life.

 

[Spoofin]

Don't know if this was directed at my comment. If so, I don't think it is a defense, and I am on record calling Nelson a coward and a criminal, and I think he got off pretty easy. But "he started it" is also not a defense for Kolstad taking a run at Nelson to deliver a blind side sucker punch, so I get really sick of Kolstad and his family trying to make him sound like some totally innocent victim whom Nelson just found lying on the side of the road and decided to come kick. As far as I am concerned, Kolstad and Nelson are both cowards and thugs. One of them lost the remainder of his collegiate football career, the other suffered some very severe injuries. Harsh lessons, but actions have consequences, and they were both complicit in this mess.

Nope, not directed at you, but rather the folks that seem to think PN was justified because he was shoved in the back (prior to walking across the street, finding Kolstad, and kicking him in the head) like it was some kind of self defense. I agree with what you wrote above about both being (although not equal) cowards and thugs and paying high prices (also not equal) for their actions.


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[Costa Rican Gopher]

Nope, not directed at you, but rather the folks that seem to think PN was justified because he was shoved in the back (prior to walking across the street, finding Kolstad, and kicking him in the head) like it was some kind of self defense. I agree with what you wrote above about both being (although not equal) cowards and thugs and paying high prices (also not equal) for their actions.


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Up until now your emotions had been getting the better of your common sense, but emboldened part is just a flat out lie. Everyone who saw that video saw what happened and it sure wasn't a shove. Kolstad is a big, big dude, who got a running start at Nelson from behind and threw a nasty sucker punch at him. Even though it didn't land flush, it still had the power behind it to knock two grown men to the concrete. A picture is worth a thousand words and that's why this case was over the minute that video was released.

 

[AO54]

Up until now your emotions had been getting the better of your common sense, but emboldened part is just a flat out lie. Everyone who saw that video saw what happened and it sure wasn't a shove. Kolstad is a big, big dude, who got a running start at Nelson from behind and threw a nasty sucker punch at him. Even though it didn't land flush, it still had the power behind it to knock two grown men to the concrete. A picture is worth a thousand words and that's why this case was over the minute that video was released.

stated here before, but it looks like it was more the shove that pushed them down rather than the punch. Huge difference between the knockout punch that knocked Kolstad down and the weak punch with accompanying shove that tumbled them to the ground rather than knocking them unconscious.

 

[Spoofin]

Up until now your emotions had been getting the better of your common sense, but emboldened part is just a flat out lie. Everyone who saw that video saw what happened and it sure wasn't a shove. Kolstad is a big, big dude, who got a running start at Nelson from behind and threw a nasty sucker punch at him. Even though it didn't land flush, it still had the power behind it to knock two grown men to the concrete. A picture is worth a thousand words and that's why this case was over the minute that video was released.

You are so painful to read on this topic. I said shove, you say punch, and your conclusion is I'm lying. Give it a rest CRG.


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[UpnorthGo4]

stated here before, but it looks like it was more the shove that pushed them down rather than the punch. Huge difference between the knockout punch that knocked Kolstad down and the weak punch with accompanying shove that tumbled them to the ground rather than knocking them unconscious.

The reason for the shove (or whatever it was) was an intoxicated Nelson wrongly accusing Kolstad for hitting on his girlfriend. I think it is fair to say that a significant percentage of GopherHolers would have reacted in the the same way as Kolstad to what Nelson did to initiate the confrontation. I think it is also fair to say that very few GopherHolers would ever kick an unconscious human being in the head in retaliation to a similar provocation as what Kolstad did in response to Nelson.

I dare say Costa has mixed it up with his fair share of people who have mouthed off to him at closing time. This whole tragic incident started with an intoxicated Nelson being an asshole to an innocent person. Even Nelson's girlfriend tried to stop him from retaliating against Kolstad. Nelson deserves everything that has come his way since. He has admitted to his culpability and apologized for his actions. Why are there so many posters in GopherHole who continue to defend Nelson when he is not doing it himself?

 

[Breakin' The Plane]

stated here before, but it looks like it was more the shove that pushed them down rather than the punch. Huge difference between the knockout punch that knocked Kolstad down and the weak punch with accompanying shove that tumbled them to the ground rather than knocking them unconscious.

Sometimes people see what they want to see. I see Kolstad taking two steps, drawing his arm back and delivering a punch. The Fox 9 story that accopanies the video says: "Following a heated argument between the two -- apparently over Nelson's girlfriend -- the video shows Kolstad throwing a wild punch, knocking Nelson and another person to the ground. Nelson's attorney says his client suffered a concussion."

But, if you think it was a harmless shove, more power to you.

http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/stor...ideo-of-the-isaac-kolstad-philip-nelson-fight

 

[Breakin' The Plane]

The reason for the shove (or whatever it was) was an intoxicated Nelson wrongly accusing Kolstad for hitting on his girlfriend. I think it is fair to say that a significant percentage of GopherHolers would have reacted in the the same way as Kolstad to what Nelson did to initiate the confrontation. I think it is also fair to say that very few GopherHolers would ever kick an unconscious human being in the head in response to a similar provocation. This whole tragic incident started with an intoxicated Nelson acting like a first class asshole to an innocent person. Nelson deserves what he got.

Wait until someone is walking away and then punch them in the back of the head? No. Not my style.

 

[e.bigelow]

Wait until someone is walking away and then punch them in the back of the head? No. Not my style.

+1

 

[AO54]

Sometimes people see what they want to see. I see Kolstad taking two steps, drawing his arm back and delivering a punch. The Fox 9 story that accopanies the video says: "Following a heated argument between the two -- apparently over Nelson's girlfriend -- the video shows Kolstad throwing a wild punch, knocking Nelson and another person to the ground. Nelson's attorney says his client suffered a concussion."

But, if you think it was a harmless shove, more power to you.

http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/stor...ideo-of-the-isaac-kolstad-philip-nelson-fight

How could he possibly knock 2 guys down with only a punch? Did he hit both of them in the temple in one swing? If Philip and his friend were so harmed by this wild punch, how were they able to instantly recover enough to go after Kolstad as he's walking away?

 

[sconnygopher]

The reason for the shove (or whatever it was) was an intoxicated Nelson wrongly accusing Kolstad for hitting on his girlfriend. I think it is fair to say that a significant percentage of GopherHolers would have reacted in the the same way as Kolstad to what Nelson did to initiate the confrontation. I think it is also fair to say that very few GopherHolers would ever kick an unconscious human being in the head in retaliation to a similar provocation as what Kolstad did in response to Nelson.

I dare say Costa has mixed it up with his fair share of people who have mouthed off to him at closing time. This whole tragic incident started with an intoxicated Nelson being an asshole to an innocent person. Even Nelson's girlfriend tried to stop him from retaliating against Kolstad. Nelson deserves everything that has come his way since. He has admitted to his culpability and apologized for his actions. Why are there so many posters in GopherHole who continue to defend Nelson when he is not doing it himself?

Its funny that its okay for Kolstad to retaliate but not Nelson? Youre making yourself look like an ass just stop while you look this incompetent. If you don't think Nelson and Kolstad both have egos that are a little big youre mistaken. Nobody is trying to say Phil is completely innocent. I guess the difference here is that Nelson knows he shouldn't have kicked him in the head even though it didn't cause the brain damage, and the Kolstad family wants to act like Isaac was randomly jumped and gang beaten by some underage drinking thug (im guessing Kolstad never went to a bar or consumed alcohol underage if he thought they should make those remarks). Phil was out of line, Isaac was out of line, and Isaac got tragically injured to the point where its going to effect him the rest of his life. They both put themselves in the position for this to happen so they both can take responsibility.

 

[MNVCGUY]

This whole tragic incident started with an intoxicated Nelson being an asshole to an innocent person. Even Nelson's girlfriend tried to stop him from retaliating against Kolstad. Nelson deserves everything that has come his way since. He has admitted to his culpability and apologized for his actions. Why are there so many posters in GopherHole who continue to defend Nelson when he is not doing it himself?

Please show me one person that is defending Nelson and thinks that what he did was OK. No one in their right mind thinks that what he did was good or justifiable. The only thing that I take issue with in this whole stupid story are the people like you that want to make Kolstad out to be some sort of innocent victim. He 100% played a massive role in what went down that night. I have said it and so have others....there are no innocent victims in this story just a bunch of drunken aholes that all managed to screw up their lives forever by acting like jackasses.

 

[UpnorthGo4]

Wait until someone is walking away and then punch them in the back of the head? No. Not my style.

We don't actually know if it was a punch or a shove. We do know that Nelson is healthy enough to play college football if he can find a school who will take him (and he is good enough). Very few people have ever hit another person with their fist and caused serious injury. The most likely way to seriously injure someone (other than shooting or stabbing them) is to kick them in the head when they are lying on the ground and not moving. The only thing we know for sure about what happened is that Kolstad will live with the injuries inflicted by Nelson's kick for the rest of his life. Nelson understands what he did. It is high time his unquestioning supporters in GopherHole begin to understand it too.

 

[e.bigelow]

Please show me one person that is defending Nelson and thinks that what he did was OK. No one in their right mind thinks that what he did was good or justifiable. The only thing that I take issue with in this whole stupid story are the people like you that want to make Kolstad out to be some sort of innocent victim. He 100% played a massive role in what went down that night. I have said it and so have others....there are no innocent victims in this story just a bunch of drunken aholes that all managed to screw up their lives forever by acting like jackasses.

+1 to all. Great post.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

Question that probably no one can answer honestly: if Phil Nelson was NOT a former Gopher QB, and people on this board did NOT have positive feelings about Nelson from his playing career, would we view this incident differently. If I show you video of some guy you don't know, and have no prior opinion about - and the video shows this guy running over and kicking a man in the head, while the other man is laying on the ground and unable to defend himself, would you defend him or propose mitigating circumstances the way people here are doing for Nelson?

Again, I don't expect anyone to change their opinion on this case - but just wanted to point out that some people's opinions may be colored by their previous good feelings about Nelson - whether they admit it or not - or whether they're even aware they may have a conscious or unconscious bias in favor of Nelson.

Hey, I rooted for Nelson when he was the Gopher QB, and I still think what he did is inexcusable.