Prosecutors to retry case of LA firefighter beating woman for feeding stray cats
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The District Attorney's Office announced Thursday that they will retry the case against a Los Angeles firefighter accused of beating a woman for feeding stray cats in the neighborhood.
The September 2013 incident was captured by a surveillance camera. The graphic video, first shown by Eyewitness News, showed the confrontation between firefighter Ian Eulian and his mother, Lonieta Fontaine, against Rebecca Stafford.
Eulian testified at the first trial that he wanted Stafford to stop feeding the cats in his neighborhood since they were causing a lot of problems. He claimed he punched Stafford only once in self defense and to protect his mother.
Stafford admitted she threw cat kibble on Eulian's face to make him stop yelling at her and does not remember what happened after she was dragged out of the car and punched by the firefighter.
Eulian and his mother drove Stafford home after the altercation. The woman claims the firefighter's mother lied to protect her son, telling her that she fell and hit her head on her car. But surveillance video showed Eulian punching Stafford several times.
The first trial resulted in a hung jury, with the split 7-5 for guilty in the assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury count and 6-6 in the battery with serious bodily injury count.
Fontaine is charged with accessory after the fact for allegedly lying about how Stafford sustained her injuries. The jury never got to vote on her charges because it was dependent upon Eulian being found guilty or not guilty in his case.
The next pretrial hearing date is set for Nov. 26, and retrial is expected to happen early next year.
Defense attorney Robert Schwartz says Eulian has not had his administrative hearing with the fire department to determine his employment status. They are waiting to see what happens in the criminal case.
