A Hispanic woman who was beaten into a coma during an argument over a parking space in Manhattan, has declined to testify against her attacker.
Lana Rosas, 25, was in a coma for a week after Oscar Fuller, 36, punched her in the jaw, sending her sprawling to the concrete on Feb. 25, 2011.
Prosecutors contend Fuller viciously knocked Rosas out cold as they argued over a parking space she was holding for her boyfriend, who was making a U-turn in the street.
Rosas’ attorney told NBCnewyork.com his client still wears a helmet to protect her brain after doctors removed the front portion of her skull to ease intracranial swelling.
A disturbing 911 call was released in the trial on Wednesday as prosecutors rested their case.
A male caller can be heard on the audio saying Rosas was bleeding from her mouth. “She just got punched in the face like very, very hard,” he said.
Fuller, a 5-7, 150-pound father of two, claimed he was defending himself after the 4ft 11in, 100 pound Rosas hit him first. Fuller fled the scene after the fight but he was later tracked down at a child’s birthday party and arrested after a witness wrote down Fuller’s license plate number.
After posting a $100,000 bond in March, the electrician from Queens apologized to Rosas and her family, saying “I wish I just let her hit me. It was out of reflex, just a reaction that went the wrong way.”
If convicted Fuller faces up to 7 years in prison.
