CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga.,None — It was the defense's turn Friday in the trial against a man accused of beating a woman at a Cracker Barrel restaurant.
A Cracker Barrel customer said he watched Tasha Hill spit in the face of a man accused of beating her in front of her daughter at the Morrow restaurant.
The witness was the first to testify in defense of Troy Dale West, who is facing numerous charges in connection with the incident.
Leon Oswalt was at the Cracker Barrel in Morrow to celebrate his birthday with his son and granddaughter. He told the jury that before West attacked Hill, she spit on him.
"I saw her spit in his face and he wiped it out and by the time he wiped it out, he hit her," said Oswalt.
Oswalt testified that Morrow police never interviewed him about what he saw.
Hill said West hit, kicked and screamed racial slurs at her after she asked him to be careful and not let the door hit her daughter.
Prosecutors charged West with aggravated assault and child cruelty, because Hill's daughter watched the attack.
When the state presented its case, Hill denied spitting on West.
Clayton County district attorney Tracy Graham Lawson asked Oswalt about the level of violence inflicted on Hill.
"Did he hit her soft or not soft?" asked Lawson. "Not soft at all," said Oswalt.
The defense also called two teenagers to the stand who said Hill threatened to kill them after she accused them of breaking into her home.
"She just said if she ever saw me in her yard again, she would shoot me in the head with a hollow point," the teen testified.
Prosecutors said the incident involving the teens happened this year and has nothing to do with the Cracker Barrel beating, which took place in 2009.
West took the stand in his own defense just after 12:30 p.m. Channel 2 Action News reporter Tom Jones will have a live report on that testimony at 5 p.m.
Previous Stories: October 20, 2010: Woman Says Man 'Punched, Kicked' Her In Front Of Daughter October 18, 2010: Jury Selection Begins In Cracker Barrel Attack
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