O-Trap;1540400 wrote:How difficult might it be to prove beyond reasonable doubt that other friends were in on the actual attack?
I don't think it matters. If you have witnesses or visual evidence he had a group backing him up, whether they were directly involved or not, I think a case can be made for felonious assault on multiple levels.
The threat and potential for harm matters. And from the perspective of the victim, if one guy approaches to attack you with several friends who could jump in. To me that's pretty similar to assault with a deadly weapon because this is a fight you can't win, so you can't really defend yourself. Potentially facing 3 or more guys might as well be the same as a guy pointing a gun in your face - trying to defend yourself could very likely result in death.
In such a case, I think the jury should have the option to consider felony assault.