Fatal punch trial opens with differing accounts

http://www.nwherald.com/articles/2009/10/19/r_sb045oqq8o83lthbbhqew/index.xml

Dustin Goy, 32, of Crystal Lake is being tried this week on a charge of involuntary manslaughter for a punch that killed Anthony Carlsen outside a Crystal Lake bar in September 2007.
The Northwest Herald will be providing regular updates as warranted from the trial at www.NWHerald.com and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/nwherald.
Under today's updates, you will find the story from Monday's proceedings.
2:20 p.m. today: Trial has ended for the day. It will resume at 9 a.m. Wednesday. Prosecutors expect to rest their case Wednesday.
2:18 p.m. today: Goy went to a nearby bar after the incident. A bartender there told police she overheard him say that man deserved to be punched.
2:12 p.m. today: Goy defense said in opening statement that 911 tape included someone shouting "Get back here; we're going to kill you."
2:10 p.m. today: 911 tape in Goy trial reveals cursing in background as caller indicates Carlsen is bleeding from the back of his head.
10:56 a.m. today: Both sides agree that the man she saw push Carlsen at the beginning of the fight was not Dustin Goy.
10:55 a.m. today: Then, woman said she saw the four men running away.
10:53 a.m. today: Then, the woman didn't see the fatal punch but heard a thud "like a watermelon hitting the ground." Carlsen didn't get up.
10:50 a.m. today: Woman: Three men were walking away, but Carlsen followed. She thought he seemed confused.
10:49 a.m. today: In Goy trial, woman saw 4 men in C formation around Carlsen. One pushed him to the ground . Carlsen got up, said, "I didn't do nothing."
9:38 a.m. today: Another bar patron: Goy seemed to joke about fighting before incident, asked inside the bar if he'd have his back
__________________________________________________
WOODSTOCK – The trial of a 32-year-old Crystal Lake man accused of delivering a fatal punch started Monday with differing accounts of the September 2007 fight.
Prosecutors said Anthony Carlsen, 45, never saw Dustin Goy’s punch coming, and defense attorneys said Carlsen turned toward Goy with his hands out and palms up immediately after someone else had pushed Carlsen to the ground during a heated exchange.
Either way, Carlsen’s head struck the ground after Goy punched him outside a Crystal Lake tavern, and he died about five weeks later, leaving behind a wife and two children, now ages 20 and 18.
Prosecutors last week reduced the charges against Goy from murder and aggravated battery to involuntary manslaughter. Defense attorneys have maintained that Goy was not guilty, because he acted in self-defense.
If convicted of involuntary manslaughter, Goy could be sentenced to probation or to between two and five years in prison.
At Goy’s request, Judge Sharon Prather will determine his innocence or guilt at the end of the trial, which is expected to last at least through Thursday.
During opening statements Monday afternoon, Assistant State’s Attorney Michael Combs said that Goy fled the scene after the early-morning incident. Then a bartender at another tavern refused to serve him because he appeared intoxicated, Combs said.
Later, when police interviewed him, Goy demonstrated how he delivered the ultimately fatal punch. Combs said the punch was both reckless and not flung in self-defense.
“There is no reason why he had to strike Anthony Carlsen, much less with the force he did,” Combs said.
But defense attorney Robert Haeger emphasized that Carlsen was about 6 feet tall and weighed 280 pounds, while Goy is 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighed about 150 pounds. Haeger said Goy was observing, not participating, in the altercation in which Carlsen was the aggressor.
“If Mr. Goy wants to fight, as the state wants you to believe, why would he pick this giant?” Haeger said.
Haeger also disputed that Goy put much force behind the punch, stating that authorities found no marks on Goy’s hand nor any marks on Carlsen’s body from his chest to his chin.