'Saved by the Bell' Screech Actor Dustin Diamond Convicted on Two Misdemeanor Charges in Bar Fight Case
Dustin Diamond, the actor who played Samuel "Screech" Powers on the '90s sitcom "Saved by the Bell," was convicted of two misdemeanors and cleared of a felony charge for being involved in a bar fight last Christmas.
The 38-year-old former child star was taken into custody on Dec. 26, 2014 by police in Ozaukee County for allegedly stabbing a man with a switchblade during a fight at the Grand Avenue Saloon in Port Washington on Christmas night. He was charged with reckless endangerment of safety, disorderly conduct and carrying a concealed weapon.
On Friday, a Wisconsin jury found Diamond guilty of carrying a concealed weapon and disorderly conduct. The maximum sentence for the weapon charge is nine months in prison, while the other misdemeanor carries a maximum of 90 days behind bars. Fortunately for him, Diamond avoided the most serious charge of recklessly endangering public safety.
According to The Associated Press, the jury issued a verdict just hours after the former child star testified that he never intended to stab anyone in the December fight.
In a criminal complaint, Diamond and his fiancée Amanda Schutz, 27, got into a physical altercation with two men and a woman. Court documents show the victim suffered from a non-life-threatening, 1/2-inch wound under his armpit and heavy bleeding. However, Diamond told police he accidentally stabbed one of the men while trying to defend his fiancée.
Schulz is still facing a misdemeanor charge for disorderly conduct.
The stabbing victim, a 25-year-old man identified as Casey Smet, also testified on Thursday, revealing that did not realize that he had been stabbed until after he left the bar and began speaking with police.
Diamond is set to be sentenced at a later date, reports Perez Hilton.
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