Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Charges dismissed against woman attacked in pizzeria

- By Jonathan D. Silver

A district judge Monday dismissed criminal charges against a Homestead woman who was assaulted and ejected from an Uptown pizzeria in January during an attack that was captured on cell phone video.

“She’s pleased the charges were dismissed, as am I,” said attorney Kenneth Haber, referring to his client, Jade Martin.

District Judge Oscar Petite, who presided over the hearing in City Court, “agreed with my position that she did nothing wrong, certainly nothing illegal; he found that they didn’t have enough evidence to sustain their burden, and he dismissed the charges,” Mr. Haber said.

Asked whether his client felt vindicated, Mr. Haber said, “I wouldn’t say vindicatio­n. She was still assaulted without herself laying a hand or lifting a finger on anyone. And the assault was not just one shove or one punch. It was repeated smacks of the head on a hard surface. She’s still recovering from injuries.”

Police had charged Ms. Martin with misdemeano­r counts of defiant trespass and disorderly conduct after she entered the restaurant, apparently in search of a

bathroom.

Ms. Martin, 34, was attacked by former Pizza Milano manager Mahmut Yilmaz, who told her to leave and then attacked her. He is seen pushing her, throwing her to the ground and apparently slamming her head against the floor before other employees pull him away.

Ms. Martin said she’d had a couple of drinks after work, missed her bus and stopped in the restaurant to use the bathroom.

Mr. Yilmaz, 41, of Westwood, faces trial on charges of aggravated assault and simple assault.

A video of the assault posted online was viewed nearly 1 million times.

The Allegheny County district attorney’s office declined comment.

Ms. Martin has a pending lawsuit for more than $5 million against Mr. Yilmaz and the pizzeria.

Mr. Haber said his client still suffers from lingering effects of the assault.

He said he did not know what set Mr. Yilmaz off and did not know the two to have had any prior interactio­ns.

“It appears that for whatever reason he was trying to prevent her from coming in, and when she did, in fact, attempt to come in, he snapped,” Mr. Haber said. “The video did not show anything that would warrant the actions that the manager took.”

The preliminar­y hearing featured the cell phone video of the assault as well as video presented by the prosecutio­n and taken before the incident.

Mr. Haber said that video showed Ms. Martin standing on the sidewalk and talking on the phone.

“From what I saw, and I can speculate that from what the judge saw, it did not help their case. It just showed her being a citizen: doing things we all do on a regular basis — standing on a sidewalk, talking on a cell phone, going into an establishm­ent that’s open to the public,” Mr. Haber said.

 ?? Lake Fong/Post-Gazette ?? Attorneys George Kontos, left, and Ken Haber speak for their client, Jade Martin, 34, at a news conference Feb. 5.
Lake Fong/Post-Gazette Attorneys George Kontos, left, and Ken Haber speak for their client, Jade Martin, 34, at a news conference Feb. 5.

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