Woman Says Punch Led To Dustin Diamond's Wis. Bar Brawl
PORT WASHINGTON, Wis. (AP) — A woman testified Thursday that she punched actor Dustin Diamond's girlfriend in the face during a bar fight in Wisconsin just moments before someone yelled that Diamond had a knife.
The 38-year-old Diamond, who played Screech in the 1990s show "Saved by the Bell," is accused of stabbing a man during the fight on Christmas Day last year in a bar in Port Washington, a city about 25 miles north of Milwaukee. Diamond has pleaded not guilty to recklessly endangering public safety, a felony that carries as many as 10 years in prison.
Bethany Ward, 25, testified that the fight started after her cousin stumbled and pushed Diamond's girlfriend, Amanda Schutz. Ward said Schutz grabbed her hand as she was she was trying to guide her cousin out of the bar.
"I told her to let go. I said, 'Let go,' a few times," Ward told jurors. "She didn't let go, so I hit her in the face."
Ward said she stepped back and more fighting broke out around her. Ward said she didn't see Diamond pull the knife, but that she heard a shouted warning that the actor had one out.
The man who was stabbed, Casey Smet, also testified Thursday, saying he didn't know he had been stabbed until after he left the bar and was talking to police. The 25-year-old said he and Diamond fought at the bar, but he couldn't remember why.
Jurors were shown police body-camera video taken the night of the fight that shows Smet telling officers he didn't know the name of the man who stabbed him but could point him out. The recording shows Smet lifting his right arm, revealing a bleeding cut on this abdomen.
A prosecutor also presented a bloodstained T-shirt and sweater, along with a sliced coat all worn by Smet the night he of the brawl.
"Before the altercation, I was not bleeding or stabbed. After the altercation, I was," Smet testified.
Diamond's defense attorney has maintained that no one saw Diamond stab Smet and footage of the altercation between the two men is too murky to confirm the allegation.
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