Jury Acquits Man Who Hit Woman, Car With Hammer

A Tarzana shopping center owner was acquitted Thursday of charges stemming from a dispute in which he smashed a car window with a claw hammer, injuring the woman driver.

A Van Nuys Superior Court jury found Robert Alan Wall, 49, not guilty of assault with a deadly weapon with the intent of causing great bodily harm and not guilty of false imprisonment in connection with the May 28, 1988, incident.

Had he been convicted, Wall could have faced eight years in prison.

“There is no question the jury did the right thing,” defense attorney Richard Plotin said outside the courtroom after the verdict was read. “The woman was trying to act and fool everybody here, and the jury didn’t buy her act.”

Although vindicated, Wall said he was still upset about the incident. “How can I be compensated for what she’s put me through?” Wall said of the plaintiff, Marilynn Packer. “This woman should have been on trial. Her whole testimony was a lie. She’s been found guilty of lying.”

In fact, several of the jurors Thursday said they did not believe most of Packer’s testimony. “She contradicted herself a lot,” said juror Beverly Korbin, 50. “I basically felt that her testimony was not entirely credible.”

Packer, 51, testified that the claw hammer Wall used to smash her car window punctured her face, breaking her cheekbone and knocking out at least one tooth. Packer said that she had to undergo plastic surgery on her face.

But Plotin argued that prosecutors never called a doctor to the stand to corroborate Packer’s testimony about the extent of her injuries. “It’s unfortunate that she was injured,” Plotin said, but Wall “didn’t intend to injure her, and that was imminently clear to the jury.”

Deputy Dist . Atty. Simon R. Hiller declined comment Wednesday on the jury’s verdict. Packer was not present in the courtroom and could not be reached for comment.

Authorities said that the incident began when Packer arrived at the Wall Street Plaza on Ventura Boulevard and parked her car so that it partially blocked a space reserved for the handicapped.

Wall testified that Packer had repeatedly been warned to move her car and that she responded by swearing at him and a shopping center security guard. Wall said that Packer set off her car alarm and he responded by telling her that she was under arrest for disturbing the peace.

Wall testified that he blocked Packer’s car with his Mercedes and went to call police. When he returned, Wall said, Packer was attempting to maneuver her car around his Mercedes. Wall said Packer injured three people, including himself, as she tried to drive away.

At that point, Wall said, he got a hammer out of the trunk of his car. “I intended to break a small hole in the glass and turn off the ignition to stop the car,” Wall testified. “I was determined to citizen’s arrest her. I didn’t want to hurt her at all.”