I'm not convinced that Bill "Nine Finger" Rice committed a crime. By all accounts, the guy who bit him crossed the street in order to confront the man. The biter was angry and yelling and calling him names. If he felt threatened, I do believe he would have been within his rights to do something about it. There was no reason for the biter to cross the street, it's not like he was going into the mall. Why did the guy cross the street? To defend the honor of Code Pink?
Either way, you'd like to think that two grown men could find some other way to resolve their differences.
Anyone interested in the local fish-wrap version, here's a link:
Man accused in T.O. finger-biting incident sought : Local News : Ventura County Star
Pretty exciting stuff for the middle of the week in this neck of the woods.