Firefighter's West Adams battery trial goes to jury

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Closing arguments were completed Friday in the case of a firefighter and his mother on trial over a physical altercation with a woman feeding stray cats in West Adams. The case is now in the hands of the jury.

Los Angeles firefighter Ian Eulian, 38, is accused of battery causing serious bodily injury. His mother, Lonieta Fontaine, 71, is accused of accessory after the fact for lying about the incident, which was recorded by surveillance camera in September 2013. Eulian is seen on video repeatedly punching Rebecca Stafford, 47.

Eulian and his mother are accused of attacking Stafford for feeding stray cats in their West Adams neighborhood.

"You saw all the restraint that Mr. Eulian demonstrated before his mother gets violently kicked," said defense attorney Robert Schwartz, who argued Eulian acted in self-defense.

During day two of closing arguments in the two-week-old trial, Schwartz says Eulian punched Stafford only to protect his mother. Schwartz maintains Stafford kicked Fontaine, knocking her to the ground during the heated physical confrontation.

"What would (the prosecutor) Mr. Ritter propose that someone in Mr. Eulian's shoes would have done at the time? After his mother's violently kicked, and say 'Excuse me, ma'am, don't do that again.' Is that what most people would have done?" said Schwartz.

"How on Earth can it be reasonable for a grown man to take a 47-year-old woman, pull her from her car, literally knock her out as she shields herself from his onslaught, and ask you to find him to be defending himself or his mother?" asked prosecutor Joshua Ritter.

Stafford testified that she never kicked Fontaine. Eulian has admitted on the stand that he never actually saw Stafford kick his mother, yet believes she did.

Ritter says the trial boils down to the video showing Eulian's out-of-control and violent behavior.

"That is brutal, that is vicious, that is senseless," said Ritter. "That is not the image of a man who has no choice but to defend himself or someone else. That is someone who has gone so beyond the pale of what is acceptable and reasonable in our own common sense -- and it's something more than that: It's criminal."

Eulian remains on paid administrative leave from the L.A. Fire Department pending the outcome of the trial.

If convicted, Eulian could go to prison for seven years. His mother could be sentenced to three years if convicted.