Rand Paul testifies he feared for his life when his neighbor attacked him

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WDRB) -- Republican U.S. Sen. Rand Paul appeared in Warren Circuit Court on Monday as a civil suit he brought against the neighbor who broke his ribs during an attack in 2017 got underway.

A jury of seven men and seven women, as well as two alternates, were seated to hear the case of Rand Paul vs. Rene Boucher.

Paul walking stiffly as he enters the courtroom, still recovering from hernia surgery resulting from the attack. He is suing Boucher for more than $1 million in damages.

Sen. Rand Paul obviously walking stiffly as he enters the courtroom after a break. He just had hernia surgery related to the attack at a hospital in Canada. pic.twitter.com/pzHYhA7M9p
— Lawrence Smith (@LASmithReports) January 28, 2019

Paul suffered broken ribs in 2017 when Boucher tackled him over a conflict about Paul’s yard waste. Special Judge Tyler Gill did not allow media cameras inside the courtroom during jury selection, but on the grainy court camera, you can see and hear Paul detail the moment he was hit by Boucher.

"I bend over to pick up a stick, and just as I'm straightening up, something hits me so hard," Paul said, adding that he first thought it was a terrorist attack. "For a brief second, my mind is flashing back to when we were shot at at the baseball field."

Paul told the jury that he thought he was going to die.

"I thought ... 'If I do nothing, this may be the last breath I ever take. Because whoever is doing this isn't stopping,'" he said. "And I really thought if I got another blow to my back, I wasn't going to survive. And so really I thought I could die at that point."

Paul said he soon discovered the attacker was his neighbor, Boucher.

"He never apologized then or since," Paul said.

Paul was seen seated next to his wife, Kelley, as Judge Tyler Gill told potential jurors not to let their politics affect their judgment in the case.

"When this case is over with, we want a fair result," Gill said. "If you have a strong political belief, one way or the other that would cause you to favor one side or the other in this case, I need to know that."

Gill told jurors they do not have to decide Boucher’s guilt, as that has already been established. He said their job is only to determine the damages Paul should be awarded.

Since the case is a civil trial, just nine of the 12 jurors must agree. The trial is expected to wrap up this week.