A question about the legality of personal space

[Lurks Often]

46. I'm not aware of a legal definition of "personal space"

and based on your description of the events above and depending on the state you live in, if a fight had broken out, it is very likely you would have been arrested and charged as well. I would not be optimistic about your chances in front of a jury, especially if there were witnesses who saw and more importantly, heard the conversation.

Assuming a competent DA:
-You failed to walk away or call the police, which the DA would tell the jury that you weren't really scared of him
-Your description of the conversation, especially at the beginning certainly didn't deescalate the issue and a good DA could even make the argument that you were escalating the situation.
-Since this was public property (or at least not your property) you had no legal right to ask him to leave and he had every right to be there.
-We'll presume, for the sake of discussion, that he was really mentally ill. That gives him the defense of diminished capacity and it makes you, the larger of the two people, look even more at fault.

In short, next time, walk away.