Virginia's Court of Appeals upheld a conviction for "assault and battery of a family member" even though the trial judge refused to strike a potential juror who agreed with the statement, “no man ever has a right to raise a fist to a woman.” The court struck four other prospective jurors who indicated that they would use a different standard for self-defense if a man was defending against a man rather than against a woman. The appeals court said the juror’s own statements demonstrated that he was able to sit as an impartial juror, and while he expressed a view that men should be held to a different standard regarding self-defense, his statements, viewed in the totality, simply demonstrate the legally permissible belief that size and strength are factors that can be considered in determining whether self-defense is justifiable.
Weis v. Commonwealth (Malveaux), Va. Ct. App. unpublished 10/18/16.