Can I sue someone for trying to blackmail me into not pursuing a legal case?

Question by Nicholas: Can I sue someone for trying to blackmail me into not pursuing a legal case?
Ok, long story, but basically, my girlfriend was beat by someone psychologically disturbed in her house. This has happened many times over the past few years, but her parents are very “lenient” and “liberal” so to speak, so they refused to do anything about it all the previous times. It happened again a few days ago, when my girlfriend and I were about to leave to take her to college, and we both had it (there’s a huge bruise that covers the entire back end of her right shoulder, and the accused beater even threw her at her own baby, almost hurting her), so we talked to the police and filed a lawsuit against this person and her husband, who threatened me with bodily harm when we tried to confront them on the issue. Plus, they threw a china mug at me from the second story of their house, which barely missed me. i could’ve got a concussion, or worse.

Anyway, ever since we made the suit, my girlfriend’s entire family (including the two defendants, her parents, and her grandparents) has turned against her. They’ve also banned me from their property (a command I haven’t broken once) All of them have made various threats against both of us, including the following:

– Her mother, and both of her maternal grandparents have insinuated or openly threatened that her college education would not be paid for if she went through with the suit. Furthermore, reasons for not paying for college included “because you destroyed this family”.

– Her father has accused her of lying about the whole thing (even though she’s been a very honest person, especially compared to the accused beater), and even went so far as accusing her of hitting the baby on purpose (referring to the fact that the beater threw my girlfriend at the beater’s baby). As “proof” he cited a lie she told him when she was in eighth grade, over five years ago.

-Her parents have both claimed that the beater could counter sue my girlfriend for “child abuse” for hitting the baby, something that never happened, and can’t be proved. I’m pretty sure this isn’t true, and was only said to scare her out of the lawsuit.

-Her grandfather has threatened to sue me for “trespassing” onto her mother’s property, something i had permission to do before the suit happened, but haven’t done since the suit occurred.

-Various other guilt trips, threats, and questioning of our story, when there’s no logical reason to do so, including the mother claiming this could make her lose her job (makes no sense at all, since the suit isn’t even against her), and accusing my girlfriend of “not caring about the baby” (who has unfit parents and needs a new home, anyway).

So my question is, could my girlfriend and I also sue her parents and grandparents for using threats and blackmail to try to make us drop the charges? Or at least use it as evidence in court to back our story?

Please respond soon, and PLEASE no trolls or comments telling us to “get a life” or “you’re obviously lying”… We really need help, and are desperate for answers. If you can’t give a helpful answer, then don’t give one at all. Thank you!
OK, thank you for your answers… Will, “understanding the rage” is something we’ve tried over and over again. The answer is simple… for whatever reason, they are biased toward the assaulter and her husband, and always have been (the assaulter is her sister), simply because she and her husband are hispanic (her family is extremely liberal, and takes their biases to an extreme). Both myself and a police officer have taken pictures of the bruise only 20 mins after the beating occurred, and one other cop and the local magistrate have seen the bruise, as well.

now, what do you mean by “settling outside of court”?
@ Michael, u obviously didnt read the whole question, especially the last part. I was physically threatened, plus i had a possibly deadly projectile thrown @ me. plus i was present for most of what happened. Please read the whole question before you make false judgements in the future. thank you.

Best answer:

Answer by kyle
sure

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