A Barton County Jury found Larned man Donald Clark not guilty by reason of self defense Wednesday at the conclusion of a trial for an aggravated battery charge.

The case stemmed from the events of Jan. 14, 2018, when another man, Dakota Conaway, hit a man in the head with a bowling ball at Walnut Bowl in Great Bend. After the incident, Conaway and Clark where involved in an altercation and Conaway ended up with a broken nose and fractures in the bones surrounding one eye.

Conaway has already been found guilty by a jury of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, a level 7 person felony that carries a presumptive sentence of probation. He has appealed the 2019 verdict.

Clark was charged with a more serious form of aggravated battery/great bodily harm, a level 4 person felony that could have led to time in prison if convicted. However, he took the witness stand on Tuesday and testified that he hit Conaway in response to an imminent threat.

Several people spent the day at Walnut Bowl for a tournament that started at 10:30 a.m. That evening, around 6:40 p.m., Conaway was eliminated but still bowling with friends and he was “getting really irate,” Clark said.

Conaway’s loud cussing was noticed by a family with children bowling four lanes away, Clark and others testified. Jason Vonfeldt attempted to calm him down and was hit in the head with a 15-pound bowling ball that Conaway either swung or threw.

“I didn’t see it coming,” Clark said. “I was shocked. The ball bounced off of his head and went toward the kids at the birthday party.” Clark said he picked up the ball as Conaway walked past him, laughing.

“I said, ‘that was messed up,’” Clark testified. He said Conaway was behind him and told him to “shut the ... up; I will beat your old ass too.”

“I knew I was in a bad spot,” Clark continued. “I grabbed him by the shirt collar and walked him back.” Then, “Dakota went to head butt me and pushed me away. I hit him twice.”

Then he went to the bar/bathroom area to check on Vonfeldt, Clark said. “There was blood everywhere.”

Clark returned to the concourse area and there was a second altercation with Conaway.

“Dakota looked at me,” he said, describing how they “locked eyes.” “He pointed at me and I told him to stay there. He got back up and was coming at me.”

Jurors were also able to view videos taken that evening at the Bowling Alley.

Corporal Jefferson Davis from the Great Bend Police Department testified that shortly after 6:40 p.m. that evening he responded to a report of a fight in progress at Walnut Bowl.

“There was a state of chaos — people upset and yelling,” he said. He contacted Conaway and took a photo of the injuries to his face. “His injuries did stand out to me as severe,” Davis said. He could smell an “intoxicating beverage” on Conaway’s breath and “he was excited, hard to interview.”

Conaway refused  treatment at the scene. He testified he doesn’t remember much about what happened before he woke up in a Wichita hospital.

Dr. Gary McKee, a Hutchinson radiologist, testified and identified the scan that showed Conaway’s broken nose and damage to his orbital wall, the area around the eye.

Assistant County Attorney Doug Matthews attempted to show that the evidence pointed to Clark as the aggressor.

“Why did you think it was necessary to approach him twice?” Matthews asked Clark on cross examination Tuesday.

“I pointed at him and said ‘stay away from me.’ ... He came at me again.”

“You hit him repeatedly —” 

“No, one time,” Clark said.

“Do you recall being pulled off of him?”

“No. I believe someone stepped in; I wasn’t going to hit him any more.”

Matthews questioned whether Clark truly felt threatened to the degree that the resulting level of force was necessary. Clark responded, “After I saw him bash my friend’s head with a bowling ball, he threatened to do the same to me.”

County Attorney Levi Morris objected to the use of self-defense as a legal defense. “You can’t start it and then claim self-defense,” he said. “There is a point when use of force becomes excessive.”

Clark was represented by Great Bend attorney Donald Anderson II. District Judge Carey Hipp presided over the trial.