Former officer says he was defending himself, not assaulting woman

Damien Walto, a former Philadelphia police officer, told a jury Monday that he was defending himself from the woman he is accused of beating, Diane Janssen, during a gathering of friends the evening of July 17, 2010.

Walto testified that Janssen threw a can of beer at the back of his head and smacked him, then tripped on her own feet when he pushed her away to avoid a second can.

"All I did was push her to get her away from me to avoid getting hit again," testified Walto, 32, who is on trial for aggravated assault and related counts.

Last week, Janssen, 26, who had been platonic friends with Walto since 2005, told the jury that he became enraged when he saw her give her telephone number to one of his friends who was engaged and about to become a father.

While walking away from the quarrel, Janssen said, Walto grabbed her ponytail, tripped her, and slammed her face into the pavement at the Tip Top playground in Northern Liberties.

What is not in dispute is that Janssen, a pharmacy technician from Frankford, got up a bloody mess.

A knot the size of an egg formed on her forehead, an eye was swollen shut, and blood covered her face, as supported by photos she and police took after the incident.

"It was hot and swollen," Janssen said of her face. "If you can imagine what concrete feels like on your skin with the scrapes. It hurt really bad."

But Walto, who was fired after a police Internal Affairs investigation in August 2010, insisted Monday that Janssen was the drunken aggressor.

Under questioning from his attorney, Gerald Stanshine, Walto told the jury that he was a lifelong Philadelphian raised in Fishtown, Northern Liberties, and South Philadelphia. He coaches youth sports teams, plays with the Golden Slippers Mummers band, and had been a member of the police ice hockey team.

After Janssen hit him with the second can of beer, Walto said, he warned her that he could have her arrested, but he did not seriously consider doing that.

"I didn't want to use my police powers to have somebody arrested that I knew," he said. "I just thought it was a drunken mistake."

Assistant District Attorney William Inden and Stanshine are scheduled to give closing arguments Tuesday morning.