TV actor Dustin Diamond testifies he didn’t mean to stab man

PORT WASHINGTON, Wis. — TV actor Dustin Diamond says he didn’t intentionally stab a man in a barroom scuffle just outside of Milwaukee.

The 38-year-old Diamond, who played Screech in the 1990s show “Saved by the Bell,” is accused of stabbing a man on Christmas Day in Port Washington, about 25 miles north of Milwaukee. Diamond on Friday told a jury that he was trying to protect his girlfriend during a bar fight.

Diamond has pleaded not guilty to recklessly endangering public safety.

The man who was stabbed, 25-year-old Casey Smet, testified Thursday that he didn’t know he had been stabbed until he left the bar and was talking to police.

Diamond testified that he thinks Smet hurt himself when he grabbed Diamond.

If convicted, Diamond could face up to 10 years in prison.

DANA FERGUSON, Associated Press