Trial begins for man charged in duck-feeding fight

Quinten Putnam faces up to 5 years in prison if convicted

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – No one argues that Quinten Putnam isn't a man who loves animals, especially the Muscovy ducks that populated his former neighborhood in Davie.

There's equally no doubt that the man who lived across the street from him, David Lawn, despised those same ducks, mainly because they defecated on his driveway, and intensely disliked Putnam for feeding them.

It was a fight between the two men over the ducks that ended with Lawn going to the hospital with a bloody head -- and a criminal case so bizarre it made international headlines when it happened more than two years ago.

That case finally went to trial Tuesday, with Putnam facing a felony battery charge that could land him in prison for five years if he’s convicted.

The critical question at the trial: Who started that fight?

Lawn's dislike for the ducks was well-known in the neighborhood. He had once run over and killed a Muscovy duck, but insisted it was an accident.

When he took the stand, the 71-year-old Lawn admitted that he confronted Putnam after witnessing his neighbor standing over a "mother duck and some baby ducks."

He said Putnam left in his car, and when he came back he decided to walk to the street to give Putnam a piece of his mind, which he said came in the form of a sarcastic statement.

"I said, 'I love all animals,' which is (Putnam's) mantra," said Lawn, whose testimony was marked by agitation.

Lawn said Putnam then attacked him.

"All of a sudden I was bum-rushed by him," Lawn said. "He tackled me."

After hitting his head, Putnam struck him 20 times with the heel of his hand, Lawn claimed, and then kicked him while he was down.

Backing Lawn's account were two witnesses, a married couple named Sandra and Edward Eppler. Both testified that they saw Putnam attack Lawn.

"Putnam started hitting Dave, and he fell down to the ground," neighbor Sandra Eppler said.  

Sandra Eppler testified on the stand that she saw the beginning of the fight.

But upon prodding from assistant public defender John Marcus, she admitted that that contradicted her early testimony, when she swore she had not seen how the physical altercation began.

Edward Eppler testified that after the two men went to the ground Lawn struck him three times, a far cry from the 20 times alleged by Lawn.

Putnam insisted in an interview with Local 10 News that he was only defending himself, that after angrily confronting him, Lawn grabbed him by the shoulders and that both he and Lawn were injured in the ensuing struggle and fall.

He said he struck Lawn only to get him under control. The defense strongly argued that claim, with Carmela Cavo, a certified legal intern at the public defender's office, saying in opening statements that the conflict was the day that "love and hate collided."

"It was Mr. Lawn who came out there looking for a fight, and all because why? Because Mr. Putnam enjoyed feeding the ducks," Cavo said.

Putnam is expected to testify Wednesday.