'Threw the first punch' | US Attorney's Office for DC explains why no charges in fatal punch case

WASHINGTON — A letter released to WUSA Friday is offering more insight into why charges were not filed against a former police officer involved in a deadly assault outside a high-end D.C. restaurant back in February.

Vivek Taneja, 41, died after he was punched outside a restaurant on 15th St. NW around 2 a.m. on Feb. 2.  Early investigation indicated Taneja and an unidentified man had been arguing when Taneja was knocked to the ground. He hit his head on the pavement and died six days later. 

In a letter dated June 5, Laura Bach, the deputy chief of the homicide section of the U.S. Attorney's Office for D.C., explained to DC Police Captain Jeffrey Wade that her office did not believe they could definitely say the incident wasn't self-defense. 

"There is nothing we learned during the course of our investigation that materially changes what is clearly depicted on the video: that Mr. Taneja made the first physical contact and threw the first punch," Bach wrote to Wade. "As you are aware, it is the government’s burden to disprove self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt and in this instance, we lack evidence to disprove self-defense."  

The letter goes on to describe the fight seen on video. While Bach called the interaction "tragic" and admittedly "out of character," she said her office was "ethically precluded from seeking charges."

"While we do not know exactly what was said leading up to that contact and punch, mere words – no matter how insulting, offensive, or abusive – do not constitute aggression under the law," Bach wrote. 

READ: The full letter from Bach to Wade below:

Sources previously told WUSA9 that DC police gathered hundreds of hours of surveillance video from the courtyard outside of the restaurant and handed it over to U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves. His office then presented that evidence before the grand jury.

When asked about the grand jury outcome earlier this week, Graves told WUSA9, "It’s prohibitive for us outside of specific cases to talk about the grand juries." 

After the decision was made not to press charges, Taneja's family shared a statement with WUSA9 through their attorney, Kaveh Noorishad. In the statement, Taneja's younger sister says she is speaking on behalf of herself and her grief-stricken mother, whom she refers to as "the only surviving members of the Taneja family."

"We have been silent waiting for the US Attorney’s office to assist us in obtaining justice in the DC Courts for my brother’s murder," the statement reads. "We put our trust in the prosecutors in this case, and now feel that the justice system has let us down."

The restaurant where the fight occurred was found by the DC Alcoholic Beverage Control Board to not be responsible for the deadly assault. A spokesperson has previously said they cooperated with the investigation and that the “victim was found 300 feet away from their doors and out of our sightlines."

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