scorpioking Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 Man pleads not guilty in bouncer's death Navy man acted in self-defense, lawyer tells court By Alex Roth UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER February 27, 2003 A Navy petty officer pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges that he sucker punched a Gaslamp bouncer who fell backward on a flight of stairs, hit his head and died. Jason Lewis, 25, faces up to seven years in prison if convicted of manslaughter and other charges in the death of 22-year-old Brandon Mundinger, a bouncer at the E Street Alley nightclub. Jason Lewis During a brief arraignment yesterday, San Diego Superior Court Judge David Szumowski set bail at $50,000 after a prosecutor and defense lawyer gave conflicting accounts of what happened at the bar Saturday night. Prosecutor Per Hellstrom said Lewis was being escorted out of the Fourth Avenue establishment for misbehavior when he sucker punched the bouncer in the face while being led up a flight of stairs. Mundinger, who probably had his hands down when he was punched, fell backward, hit his head on the concrete floor and died within minutes, Hellstrom said. Lewis' lawyer said his client acted in self-defense because he was being held in a chokehold. "He was being choked during the incident and lost his ability to breathe," attorney Scott Savary said after the hearing. He declined to elaborate, other than to call his client "a great individual." Savary said his client grew up in the San Diego area, enlisted in the Navy in 1999 and has no criminal record. Lewis' mother gave a brief statement after the hearing in which she called the case "a tragedy for both families." "I stand behind my son 110 percent," Kinya Lewis said before her lawyer told her not to say anything else. Mundinger's relatives and co-workers described him as an unfailingly polite guy who held three jobs and who had become much more religious in recent years. Mundinger was a 2000 graduate of Valhalla High School in East County. He wasn't married and is survived by his father, two brothers and three sisters, according to his sister-in-law Amy Mundinger of Lakeside. "He did love God and he did go to church," she said yesterday. "I'm so glad he found the faith again." She said police told her a security camera at the bar captured the incident on videotape. "He was a person who would never promote violence," she said. In addition to his job as a bouncer, Mundinger worked at an auto-detailing shop and a College Area motorcycle store. His boss at San Diego's House of Motorcycles called Mundinger "a great kid" who was popular with his co-workers. "He was really, really polite," said Cathy Lomas, the store's general manager. "He wouldn't even call me Cathy. He'd call me Ms. Cathy." She said a worker in the parts section of the store was taking up a collection to send flowers to Mundinger's family. The judge scheduled a preliminary hearing for March 11. Lewis was being held in the county jail. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Alex Roth: (619) 542-4558; alex.roth@uniontrib.com Yellow Pages Bars & ClubsBusiness ServicesComputersEducationHealth & BeautyHome & GardenHotelsRestaurantsShoppingTravelSearch byCompany Name: Local Guides Baja GuideCarsCouponsEldercareFinancial GuideHealthHomesHome Improvem'tJobsLegal GuideShoppingSingles GuideWedding Guide Related SignOnSanDiego Services Find San Diego jobsSignOnSanDiego's City Guide Sign-up for SignOnSanDiego's newslettersSubscribe to the Union-Tribune Site Index | Contact SignOn | UTads.com | About SignOn | Advertise on SignOn | Make SignOn your homepageAbout the Union-Tribune | Contact the Union-Tribune© Copyright 2003 Union-Tribune Publishing Co. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sassa Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 wtf!!!! i go to this club and i didn't even know of this.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
housedog Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 Is't the club in San Diego? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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