Two acquitted of beating man during parking lot fight after concert at Dodger Stadium

LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- Two men whose attorneys had vowed that they were innocent were acquitted Thursday of a battery charge involving a man who was knocked unconscious during a fight in the Dodger Stadium parking lot after an Elton John concert in 2022.

Reece Hopkin, now 40, and Chad Reeves, now 44, were charged in 2023 with one felony count each of battery with serious bodily injury in a case filed under former Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón's administration. Hopkin was also charged with a felony count of vandalism involving a bystander's phone -- a charge on which he was also acquitted.

Attorneys representing the two men said shortly after the case was filed under then-District Attorney George Gascón's administration that they expected their clients to be exonerated.

In a statement released after the jury's verdict, Reeves' attorney, Glen Jonas said, "These two innocent men -- Mr. Reeves and Mr. Hopkin -- were falsely prosecuted by a District Attorney's Office that refused to look at the case objectively ... DA (Nathan) Hochman is doing a much better job, but he needs to pay closer attention to these older cases where George Gascón turned our county upside down. I expect better from our District Attorney's Office and I hope that these older cases will be re-reviewed before more innocent men and women are brought to trial unnecessarily.''

Hochman's office confirmed the acquittals, but said it had no comment on the verdict.

The melee -- some of which was caught on video -- occurred at about 11:30 p.m. Nov. 17, 2022, following a "fender bender'' after the first of the singer's three sold-out shows at Dodger Stadium that weekend, Los Angeles police said soon afterward.

Jonas contended that the viral video was "edited, cutting out the portion of the video'' where the defense attorney said the alleged victim "attacked'' Reeves and a woman.

Attorney R.J. Manuelian, who represented Hopkin, said after the verdict that he felt "vindicated.''

"It's all about context,'' he said. "Let's not judge people based on what we see in the social media.''

Shortly after the case was filed, he had described Hopkin as a "family man.''

"Undoubtedly we're going to get a not guilty verdict and I look forward to showing the evidence in this case. We will take it all the way to trial,'' Manuelian said then. "My client is innocent. He was just protecting his wife. He was doing nothing wrong and this case should have never (gotten) filed.''

After the verdict, Manuelian said he felt "vindicated.''

Reeve's attorney had told reporters outside court in May 2023 after the two were arraigned that the "District Attorney's Office should be embarrassed for filing this garbage.''

This is a case where the so-called victim attacked a woman, attacked my client and then ultimately ended up losing the fight. That just makes him stupid. It doesn't make him a victim,'' Jonas said then.

The defense attorney told reporters at the time that he believed the District Attorney's Office opted to file the case because there was a "viral video so they get press attention which they sorely desire and want, but the kind of attention they're going to get isn't going to be positive. It's going to be negative because they will lose this case.''

The two men had been free on bond.

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