MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT--The man convicted of punching a Bronx woman into a coma over an East Village parking spot was sentenced on Friday to one year in prison — the maximum term for his misdemeanor assault.
Oscar Fuller, 36, punched Lana Rosas with so much force last year as the pair argued over a parking space on East 14th Street that the petite 26-year-old was knocked unconscious, fell to the ground and slammed her head on the sidewalk.
After weeks in the hospital and three surgeries, Rosas is left with permanent brain damage, her mother, Angie Harrison said during an emotional statement. As her daughter sat in court, Harrison described how Rosas' life — as well as the rest of her family's lives — had been upended by Fuller's "prideful rage" over something as petty as a parking spot.
She said her daughter's life was full of hope, "until she met with Oscar Fuller's fist." Rosas continues to need physical therapy, can't work or drive and has gained 50 pounds since the fight, her mother said.
Fuller's lawyers had argued during his trial that Rosas threw the first punches, and he was acting in self defense as they squabbled over the parking space she was trying to reserve for her boyfriend.
The February 2011 fight landed Rosas in the hospital, with her brain so swollen that doctors had to remove a portion of her skull. She remained in a coma for a week.
Fuller drove away after punching her, claiming he didn't know how badly she was injured. He was arrested a few days later thanks to witnesses who had taken down his license-plate number.
In May, a jury convicted Fuller of misdemeanor assault but acquitted him on the more serious charge of felony assault. It was the second trial for the Queens electrician and father of three--a jury in the fall deadlocked on the charges and did not return a verdict.
Fuller apologized for the fight during the sentencing, but did not take full blame for Rosas' injuries. His lawyer asked for probation and no jail time.
But Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Bonnie Wittner was adamant that Fuller's crime was serious — he caused permanent injury and the maximum sentence was well-deserved.
