Bruner declares his innocence before his trial starts

Before jury selection even got underway Monday morning, Joe Bruner was stating his case for acquittal on the felony charges he faces.

As Circuit Court Judge John Brown and the attorneys for the prosecution and defense prepared to bring 40 prospective jurors into court to begin the selection process, Bruner piped up from the defense table.

First he complained about spending $78,000 to prepare a defense against animal cruelty charges, only to see those charges dropped by the state.

Then he fretted to the judge about the money he’d had to spend preparing for “this so called battery” he’s to be tried for on Friday.

“I’ve never had anything to do with calling him,” Bruner also said, obviously referring to the charge of tampering with a witness he will also be tried for this week.

At Brown’s request, Bruner ended his outburst and jury selection began. Forty prospective jurors were brought in due to concerns about excessive publicity of the case involving the former owner of Destin’s Big Kahuna’s water park.

Twelve prospective jurors said they had read or heard about the charges Bruner faces. They were interviewed individually in the judge’s chambers.

The trial start was pushed back from Wednesday until Friday. An issue with a deposition forced the delay.

Bruner is charged with felony battery and witness intimidation.

The battery charge stems from an encounter in July 2009 between Bruner and Wayne Montgomery, who was Bruner’s accountant at the time.

Montgomery told Okaloosa County sheriff’s deputies that Bruner “became angry with him and physically pushed him to the floor and then intentionally struck him an unknown number of times on his face, head and neck area.”

Bruner’s second arrest came in April of this year.

A Sheriff’s Office report states that Bruner telephoned Montgomery and said, “Battery, battery, battery. You just think battery. That was not battery. You ain’t seen battery. Next whipping I’m giving you real battery.”