Giuliani on defensive after uproar over assault claim

“The question is how low can you go?” asked Ken Frydman, a public relations professional who worked as Mr. Giuliani’s spokesman during his 1993 campaign for mayor. “I don’t know if we’ve seen the bottom for Rudy.”…

“There’s no crime there,” said Hermann Walz, a former New York City prosecutor and current adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

For an altercation to qualify as assault in the third degree — the main charge ultimately filed by the district attorney of Staten Island — there must be an intent to cause injury to a person and an actual physical injury, Mr. Walz said.

“I could punch you in the face, and that wouldn’t be physical injury in New York, unless I broke your nose or something like that,” Mr. Walz said.