did. the defense said genzler innocently offered sky flanders a ride because he thought she was alone. and the toxicology reports proved dusty harless was intoxicated. genzler said dusty pulled him out of the car and, in short order, pinned him to the ground. and that the witness, scott davis, helped dusty by kicking genzler while he was pinned. genzler says the fight was two against one and that he pulled the knife from his pocket, stabbed blindly behind him and quickly turned around, so that the blood hit the front of his shirt. scott davis admitted leaving the scene of the incident but strongly denies attacking genzler. this interpretation of the forensic evidence, the forensic animation and testimony of the hall of fame wrestling coach resulted in a very different conclusion. david genzler was found guilty of the much lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter. his sentence was reduced to time served and he was released from prison. his life could have been
the court of appeals said that that denied mr. genzler the right to the counsel of his choice and reversed it on that ground. in preparing for the second trial, genzler s new defense team found something in dusty harless background that made genzler s claim of self-defense more believable. numerous witnesses came forward to say dusty harless had a reputation for starting fights. they brought people in that said my son was a street brawler. i don t know how they found them, but they did find some people that weren t really a dusty fan.
eventually, an eyewitness came forward. his name was scott davis. he said he was driving by and saw two men fighting and stopped to try to break it up. scott davis was a first class petty officer with the navy who was moonlighting as a bouncer at a local bar. and he drove up just as this was beginning. and what he said is as he drove up, he saw the beginning of the confrontation and he saw the defendant take a hard swing and hit dusty on the left side of his head and that dusty went down on his back, that the defendant jumped on top of him, straddled him, pulled out a knife with his right hand and stabbed him once in the chest. davis said he fled the scene because genzler had threatened him, too, but david genzler s version of events was
significantly different. he said dusty harless instigated the fight by pulling him out of his car and wrestled him face down to the ground. he also said that scott davis, the so-called witness, was in fact an active participant. genzler insisted davis kicked him repeatedly, while dusty had him pinned down, but managed to get a knife out of his pocket to defend himself. he s thinking he s getting his ass kicked and he s in fear of his life and he blindly reaches back and stabs him. is it likely or unlikely? i really can t say. and that is what made the one stab wound into pretty much the center of the chest of dusty. a week after dusty s death, police found genzler s car parked in a neighborhood on the other side of the city. we were able to get dna from the steering wheel, from the gear shift and the turn signal, and that dna, that blood came back and matched that of the victim dusty harless.
and i m taking the position of mr. genzler, mr. harless over here. i m probably not wanting to fight. as i would back up, he would attack my arm. he would grab my face because i don t want to get into a position i cannot get up. he pulls my head back, i realize i have a knife in my belt, and i take it out, plenty of room to stab whatever i can stab. prosecutors scoffed at this notion, as did dusty s family. david genzler would have us believe that he was laying face down on the ground and dusty was sitting on his back and that david genzler actually stabbed dusty like this up over the back of his head and stabbed him in the chest while he was sitting on his back. i mean, there are just so many