Assault and Projectile Eye Injury Expert Witness
A fist, a bottle, a less-lethal round, a firework or a paintball delivers energy to the eye in very different ways, and the injury pattern reflects the mechanism. Marc H. Shomer, MD, PhD, QME reviews these matters for plaintiff and defense counsel, prosecutors and civil litigants, correlating the documented injuries with the described event and quantifying the visual loss that resulted.
Mechanism determines the injury
- Blunt impact from a fist, foot or object compresses the globe and stretches it at the equator. Typical findings are hyphema, angle recession, iris tears, lens dislocation, commotio retinae, choroidal rupture and orbital fractures. The eye can rupture at its weakest points, often behind the muscle insertions, where the rupture is hidden from a casual examination.
- Kinetic impact projectiles used in crowd control (bean bag rounds, rubber and foam bullets, pepper balls) carry enough energy to rupture the globe or shatter the orbit. Published series report a high rate of permanent visual loss and enucleation when these projectiles strike the eye.
- Fireworks combine blast, heat and fragments and produce burns, corneal foreign bodies, hyphema and open globe injuries, most often in bystanders.
- BB and pellet guns, paintball markers and slingshots deliver a small, fast projectile that can rupture or penetrate the globe through a tiny wound.
- Chemical agents such as pepper spray usually cause intense but temporary surface irritation; lasting corneal injury is uncommon and calls for examination findings to support it.
Open globe injuries
A full-thickness wound of the eye wall, whether a rupture from blunt force or a laceration from a sharp object, is the most serious outcome. The prognosis depends on the location and length of the wound, the presence of a retinal detachment or intraocular foreign body, the initial visual acuity and the interval to repair. Standard classification systems allow an evaluator to explain to a court why one open globe recovers useful vision and another does not. See Penetrating Eye Injury.
Documentation at the first visit is decisive. The emergency record’s description of the wound, the initial acuity and the pupillary response fixes the starting point for every later opinion on causation, prognosis and permanent impairment.
The questions counsel bring
- Consistency. Do the documented injuries fit the described mechanism and force, and do they fit the claimed number and direction of blows or impacts?
- Causation of late findings. Glaucoma from angle recession, a traumatic cataract or a retinal detachment may appear months later; whether they trace to the assault depends on what was documented at the time.
- Pre-existing conditions. An eye that was already amblyopic or already had glaucoma changes both the causation analysis and the damages.
- Permanent impairment. Best-corrected acuity, visual fields and diplopia are rated under the AMA Guides framework; loss of an eye is rated separately from loss of its vision.
Civil, criminal and administrative settings
These injuries reach the expert through personal injury and premises liability suits, civil rights claims involving use of force, criminal prosecutions where the extent of injury matters to the charge, and victim compensation or disability proceedings. The medical analysis is the same in each: mechanism, documented findings, objective testing and the honest limits of the record. Dr. Shomer accepts engagements from either side and forms the same opinion regardless of who retains him.
What attorneys should gather
Police and incident reports, photographs of the injuries and any object or projectile, emergency and trauma records including CT imaging of the orbits, operative reports for any globe repair, every ophthalmology record before and after the event, and imaging in native format. The general checklist is at Attorney Checklist for Eye Injury Cases.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a punch cause permanent blindness?
Yes. A blunt blow can rupture the globe, detach the retina, rupture the choroid under the macula or damage the optic nerve, any of which can cause permanent loss. Many blunt injuries also cause hyphema and angle recession, which can lead to glaucoma years later.
How dangerous are rubber bullets and bean bag rounds to the eye?
Very. Kinetic impact projectiles carry enough energy to rupture the globe and fracture the orbit, and published series of eye injuries from these rounds report a high rate of permanent visual loss and loss of the eye.
Does pepper spray cause lasting eye damage?
Usually not. It causes intense but temporary surface irritation. Lasting corneal injury is uncommon, and a claim of permanent loss after exposure needs examination findings that support it.
Can an expert tell whether the injuries match the account of the assault?
Often, within limits. The pattern, location and severity of injuries reflect the mechanism and force, and an ophthalmologist can say whether the documented findings are consistent with the described event. The opinion is stated with its uncertainty, and the record at the first visit usually determines how much can be said.
Authorities Cited
Primary sources referenced on this page. Links open the official text on the publishing agency’s site.
Educational information only. This page provides general information for attorneys and other medical-legal professionals. It is not medical or legal advice, does not address any particular case, and does not create a physician-patient, attorney-client, or expert-client relationship. Opinions in any matter are formed only after review of the specific records, examination findings, and applicable literature. Past engagements do not guarantee any result.
Board-certified ophthalmologist; Adjunct Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, Keck School of Medicine of USC; active California Qualified Medical Evaluator. Full biography · Curriculum vitae
Published September 16, 2026 · Last substantive review September 16, 2026 · Medical reviewer: Marc H. Shomer, MD, PhD, QME
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