Jury trial under way in Wittig battery case

Paul Wittig

By JARED JERNAGAN

Assistant Editor

A jury of his peers will soon decide the fate of a Heritage Lake man accused in the alleged beatings of two police officers in the early morning hours of July 4, 2012.

The trial of Paul Wittig commenced on Wednesday in Putnam Circuit Court with Judge Matthew Headley presiding.

The 46-year-old faces charges of Class C felony battery resulting in serious bodily injury, Class D felony battery resulting in bodily injury and two counts of Class D felony resisting law enforcement.

Wittig is accused of injuring Putnam County Sheriff's Department reserve deputies Dena DeLaCruz and Barry Barger in a confrontation during an annual party at the lake.

Putnam County Prosecutor Timothy Bookwalter laid out the state's case in his opening statement to the jury.

The prosecutor briefly discussed an earlier confrontation between Wittig and DeLaCruz and how both DeLaCruz and Barger were wearing clothes marking them as police officers.

The state's contention is that when Barger tried to stop Wittig as he approached them, the defendant struck Barger in the face, commencing a long fight in which DeLaCruz was repeatedly kicked in the chest and later airlifted to Indianapolis.

"We think the evidence is clear that he (Wittig) acted out of control. We think he was the instigator of this fight, that it was a lawful arrest," Bookwalter said.

Defense attorney James Holder argued that the prosecution's case is built on a series of assumptions, not facts.

He said a discussion earlier in the night between Wittig and DeLaCruz was "very pleasant." He continued that a series of accusations against Wittig were simply assumptions by the witnesses.

"We have a drop of water moving into a stream," Holder said in a metaphor he carried throughout his opening argument.

Holder further contended that when the officers attempted to stop Wittig, they did not tell him they were police officers and he could not clearly see them in the dark at 2 a.m.

From there, Holder spoke of Wittig being unexpectedly contacted by the two police he did not know were officers, saying that the defendant also suffered injuries in the confrontation.

Finally, Holder said the accusations of Wittig's behavior throughout the night were a confluence of assumptions that do not go together.

"We have a steady stream now," Holder said, "but they don't add up."

The trial continued Wednesday afternoon with the defense calling witnesses.

The proceedings are expected to continue into Friday.