Defendant Takes Offense at Attorney’s Defense

David Lee Wyatt didn’t like the way his trial on arson charges was going, so he took matters into his own hands Wednesday.

He threw a punch at his attorney.

Right there at the counsel table. In front of a shocked jury.

But Wyatt apparently didn’t know that his court-appointed attorney, Kevin E. Gallagher, is trained in martial arts.

Gallagher deflected the blow, which only knocked his glasses loose, and attempted to return one of his own. Opinion among jurors and others in the courtroom was mixed on whether Gallagher landed a punch. The lawyer said he got in a couple of good ones.

As a result of the scuffle, Superior Court Judge Michael Brenner reluctantly declared a mistrial. The jury had already heard all the evidence in the three-day trial and was awaiting closing arguments.

In apologizing to the jurors for the mistrial, the judge said, “I just think it would be very difficult for any juror to be uninfluenced by what happened here.”

The scuffle broke out shortly before noon as Wyatt, 27, finished testifying. He was upset about the way Gallagher had handled the questioning.

Wyatt complained at the counsel table, loud enough for jurors to hear: “You didn’t do nothing for me, man. You didn’t do nothing.”

Gallagher said he was looking at his notes when suddenly Wyatt swung at him with a left hook.

The fight was over almost immediately. That’s because Deputy Marshal Dan Collett, assisting in courtroom security, grabbed Wyatt from behind and brought him down. Wyatt is 5-foot-10 and 160 pounds. Collett is 6-foot-5 and 245. Bailiff Scott Skomars wound up in the scuffle too.

Jurors said later that the fight was a total surprise.

“This was my first trial. How could I expect something like that?” said juror Gerald Robbins of Irvine. “We were all just shocked.”

Wyatt, who has a lengthy criminal record of residential burglaries and auto thefts, was recently accused of assaulting another inmate at the Orange County Jail. He was being tried on charges of starting an apartment fire in Yorba Linda last year in an attempt to cover up a burglary of the place.

“He’s a pretty violent guy, and I think he was upset about the way things were going,” Gallagher said.

Deputy Dist. Atty. James Tanizaki wasn’t happy about having to re-prosecute Wyatt. He told Judge Brenner that declaring a mistrial would be “playing right into (Wyatt’s) hands.”

“It was an obvious attempt on his (Wyatt’s) part to create a mistrial, because he knew he was going to be convicted the way the trial was going,” Tanizaki said.

Later, jurors disagreed whether the scuffle would have influenced them.

“It happened, but it’s possible to block it out and be impartial. I really think I could,” juror Robbins said.

But juror Robert Wharton of Costa Mesa said he had his doubts.

“There was evidence to show that he was guilty, and I think what he did in court might have reinforced that in my mind,” Wharton said. “It’s hard to back away from something like that. It’s really so unexpected. I can’t believe it happened.”

After lunch, the judge kept the jurors waiting in the hallway while he researched the law on whether a mistrial could be declared. He finally decided that it could be, but only if Wyatt requested it. Wyatt requested it.

Wyatt also asked for a new lawyer.