The two Holland men charged in connection to an assault that occurred at The Gingerbread Man in October 2011 were found not guilty on all charges Wednesday, according to Centre County Court Administration.
Ryan Emilius, 23, and Colin Emilius, 24, were charged specifically with simple assault, harassment and disorderly conduct after refusing to leave the Gingerbread Man, 130 Heister St., after being “uncooperative,” according to the State College Police Department.
The Emilius’, who are brothers, arrived at the bar to celebrate a friend’s birthday and were asked to leave by two employees, who said that both brothers assaulted them when they were escorting them out, police said.
Police said the brothers punched both employees several times in the face and head, causing them to seek medical treatment. One of the employees was taken to Mount Nittany Medical Center for an eye injury, police said.
Both brothers testified at their criminal trial, with Ryan stating he did not hit anyone at the bar, according to one of the brother’s defense attorneys Philip Masorti. Masorti said that Colin did hit one of the employees, but that it was a matter of self-defense, and that the force the employees exerted on the brothers was disproportionate to the force the brothers exerted on the employees.
“For Ryan, it was a matter of credibility at trial,” Masorti said. “For Colin, it was self-defense. Colin hit an employee after he saw them dragging his brother on the ground out of the bar and kicking him in the jaw.”
Masorti said that the brothers weren’t looking for trouble at the bar that night, and that what the employees did was an “outrageous manifestation of violence.”
Prosecutor Centre County District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller said in a press release that the two men were charged because a video tape of the incident did not indicate the two were justified in their actions.
“However, the jury presumably found issues of self-defense to be valid, and we accept their determination without reservation as they personally sat through all the evidence and testimony and we appreciate their service,” Parks Miller said according to the release.
To email reporter: aal5130@psu.edu
