By Patrick McNamara
The Arizona Daily Star
TUCSON, Ariz. — A former corrections officer accused of participating in a brawl at a downtown bar bears the same responsibility as those who instigated the fight, a prosecutor said.
John Hyatt, 32, is on trial before Pima County Superior Court Judge Howard Fell, accused of two counts each of aggravated assault and aggravated assault on an incapacitated victim.
“Mr. Hyatt had a lot of choices that night,” Deputy Pima County Attorney Rona Kreamer told jurors Tuesday.
Kreamer said the defendant chose to join his colleagues from the Pima County jail, where he once worked as a corrections officer, when they started a fight with two patrons of the Buffet Bar in September 2012.
Kreamer described how Jose Acuna and Martin Smith went to the bar on Ninth Street near Fourth Avenue on the night of Sept. 19 to eat hot dogs and drink beer.
After a short time, Acuna got up to leave, unlocking his bicycle from where he had chained it up near the bar’s entrance.
“Then, Matthew Garcia walks up behind him and sucker punches him in the back of the head for no reason,” Kreamer said.
Garcia is one of seven former officers originally accused in the assault.
Kreamer described how the accused former corrections officers assaulted Smith, who tried to assist Acuna, stomping on his head in the street.
She said Hyatt later grabbed Acuna, threw him into the back of a car and continued the assault on him, saying the defendant made a conscious choice to participate in the fight.
Defense attorney Jacob Amaru said his client did not see the start of the incident, but acted to prevent further violence once the fight began.
“He prevents Mr. Garcia from fighting with Mr. Acuna,” Amaru said, describing to the jury how Hyatt held his colleague against a wall to keep him from attacking the victims.
Amaru also said Acuna continued to pursue a fight with the accused corrections officers, at one point going to his backpack and searching for an unknown object.
The defendants feared Acuna would pull a weapon and responded in force, Amaru said.
“John is actually the person who is protecting Mr. Acuna,” he said.
The prosecution said the defense couldn’t argue self-defense because Hyatt was among the aggressors.
“Ladies and gentlemen, in the state of Arizona you cannot start a fight and then claim self-defense,” Kreamer said.
The trial continues today.