Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA — A retrial has begun in Philadelphia after a mistrial was declared when a man’s prosthetic eye popped out while he was testifying.
John Huttick was weeping on the witness stand in Common Pleas Court last month as he testified about the impact of losing his eye in the August 2011 fight in the parking lot of a bar. The prosthetic eye popped out and Huttick caught it, prompting the judge to grant a mistrial.
The Philadelphia Daily News reports the aggravated assault retrial began Wednesday.
Prosecutors allege 23-year-old Matthew Brunelli, a onetime bouncer, punched Huttick in the left eye with an object that may have been a key. Huttick’s eye ultimately had to be removed.
Brunelli’s attorney, Eileen Hurley, says her client used his fist to defend himself.