After the prosecution announced it was unable to proceed, a judge Monday dismissed the case against a man charged in connection with a bar manager's death after a 2024 run-in near the Santa Monica business.
Leonard Hector Korpie, now 27, had been awaiting trial on a voluntary manslaughter charge stemming from the June 12, 2024, death of Jaysent Clark, 50, a day after the physical confrontation with Korpie shortly after he and two other men were ordered to leave Jameson's Pub.
Korpie was initially charged with murder in connection with Clark's death, but Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Kathryn Solorzano found sufficient evidence to require the defendant to stand trial instead on the lesser offense of voluntary manslaughter following a hearing last September.
Police contended that Korpie punched the bar manager, while Korpie's attorney said his client shoved Clark after the bar manager punched him in the head but denied returning any punches.
Defense lawyer Adam M. Koppekin contended that his client acted in self-defense.
"I truly believe he did nothing wrong," Koppekin said. "I do believe that justice has finally prevailed."
The defense attorney called what happened "a tragedy at all levels," saying that the county medical examiner's office concluded that Clark had a number of medical issues and that his death was "the result of a cardiac arrhythmia due to the effects of an altercation, which induced a dysfunction on a heart affected by the chronic effects of atherosclerosis."
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office could not be reached for comment on the case late Monday afternoon.