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Stabbing trial begins for Gulf High teacher
By CARY DAVIS © St. Petersburg Times, published March 14, 2001 NEW PORT RICHEY -- As soon as he saw the silver flash, Robert Clark said he thrust out his hands to defend himself. "At the same time I pushed him, he stabbed me," Clark told a Pasco jury Tuesday. "Then I saw the blood. I was in shock." The man accused of stabbing Clark, 32-year-old Philip Pignataro, is on trial this week in a New Port Richey courtroom. Pignataro, who was teaching special education at Gulf High School, faces charges of attempted first-degree murder and violation of a domestic violence injunction. Prosecutors say Pignataro was angry and jealous in the days leading up to the attack because his estranged wife, Ara Rutledge, had started dating Clark. Clark testified that Pignataro called him on Christmas Eve 1999 and issued a threat: "Hope you enjoy living my life for me. Enjoy it while you can. You won't live to see the new millennium." The stabbing took place two days later, when Pignataro was returning his two sons to his estranged wife's New Port Richey house. Defense attorney Keith Hammond, in opening statements Tuesday, did not dispute that Pignataro stabbed Clark. But Hammond said his client was only acting in self-defense. Clark threatened to kill Pignataro and tried to strangle him in Rutledge's front yard, Hammond said. The defense attorney told jurors that Pignataro would take the stand and tell his side of the story during the trial, which is expected to conclude on Thursday. Clark told jurors that he never attacked Pignataro. "I told him he just needed to leave," Clark said. But Clark, who is 6-foot-2 and 250 pounds, said the smaller Pignataro's response was to throw a sucker punch, which missed the mark. Clark said he laughed and pointed down the street in another attempt to get Pignataro, who is 5-foot-8 and 160 pounds, to leave. That's when Pignataro pulled the knife from behind his back and stabbed Clark in the stomach, prosecutors say. Clark, 31, underwent emergency surgery to repair the 1-inch-wide puncture wound, which shredded an abdominal muscle, and spent four days in the hospital. The school district suspended Pignataro without pay shortly after his arrest. Once the case is settled, school officials will decide whether to fire Pignataro, said Jim Davis, the district's director of employee relations. - Staff writer Kent Fischer contributed to this report. -- Cary Davis covers courts in west Pasco County. He can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6236 or (800) 333-7505, ext. 6236. His e-mail address is cbdavis@sptimes.com.
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