Preliminary Hearing Resumes in Bryan Stow Case

Louie Sanchez and Mavin Norwood are charged in the opening day attack on Bryan Stow

Testimony in the preliminary hearing for two men accused in the attack on a San Francisco Giants fan outside Dodger Stadium after the 2011 opening day game resumed Friday afternoon.

Louie Sanchez and Mavin Norwood are charged with one felony count each of mayhem,  assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury and battery with serious  bodily injury, along with the allegation that the two inflicted great bodily  injury on Bay Area paramedic Bryan Stow. Sanchez is also charged with a misdemeanor count of battery involving a  run-in with a female Giants fan and a misdemeanor battery count for allegedly  swinging his fist at a young man in a group of Giants fans in the parking lot  after the game.

One of Stow's sisters might testify during Friday's session, which is scheduled to begin at about 1:30 p.m. The preliminary hearing will be used to determine whether the is enough evidence for Norwood and Sanchez to stand trial.

The preliminary phase began earlier this week with testimony from other fans who attended the game and investigators. Two women testified Thursday that they heard Stow fall to the ground after he was punched in the head during a parking lot confrontation.

"I heard Bryan (Stow) hit the pavement. It sounded like a thud, like  someone's head was smashing (against) the pavement,'' Megan Duffy testified. "And then I saw Bryan get kicked in the head by the same  gentleman I saw throw the punch."

"Did he appear to be conscious?'' Deputy District Attorney Michele  Hanisee asked.

"No,'' the prosecution witness responded, noting that she called 911 to  get help for Stow.

Duffy testified that she only got a side view of the man who punched and  kicked Stow, but that she got a better view of another man who landed on the  hood of her black sport-utility vehicle during the altercation in Lot 2. She  said she was later shown photographs by police and chose a photo -- of Norwood - - as the man she believed had landed on the top of her vehicle's hood.

She noted that Stow "had Giants attire on'' and "was lying unconscious  on the ground'' after the attack.

Joann Cerda, who was also walking in the parking lot after the game,  testified that she saw two Dodgers fans and four Giants fans and witnessed a  "verbal altercation'' in which the Giants fans were trying to stop the dispute  and attempting to walk away.

"I saw Bryan Stow standing by himself ... One of the suspects hit him  on the side of his face,'' she said. "Bryan Stow immediately fell backwards  and his head .. hit the concrete. It was rather loud.''

Stow suffered a fracture to his skull that resulted in the loss of a  portion of his skull as well as damage to his brain according to a stipulation  signed by attorneys from both sides and read in court.

Stow is currently "unable to walk, has loss of motor skills in his arms  and hands, is unable to carry on a normal conversation, unable to control his  bodily functions, and unable to care for himself due to diffuse, severe,  traumatic brain injury,'' according to  the signed stipulation.

Refresh this page for updates from Friday's hearing.

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