Harry Scribner A Simi Valley man accused of killing his daughter's boyfriend had his charge reduced from murder to voluntary manslaughter this week after the prosecution said there was evidence that the man believed his daughter was being beaten and he committed the crime in the heat of passion.

Harry Scribner, 65, was arrested Nov. 16 after allegedly shooting 31-year-old Bryan Wall in front of the Scribner family home on Heavenly Court.

According to police reports, Scribner grabbed a handgun when he was awakened in the middle of the night by someone beating on his door. He found his daughter, 29-year-old Jamie Scribner, and Wall in front of his house. After what police have called an "encounter," Wall died on Scribner's driveway of a gunshot wound to the neck.

Scribner pleaded not guilty to voluntary manslaughter during his arraignment in Ventura County Superior Court on Tuesday.

"I'm glad to see the prosecution has changed the original charge and made it more in line with what the prosecution believes the facts are," said Scribner's lawyer, Mark Pachowicz. "There's more work to be done, but it's a step in the right direction. We'd rather be facing this charge than the other, but it's obviously still a serious case, and we have to deal with it."

Senior Dep. District Attorney Richard Simon said both Jamie Scribner and Wall were covered with scratches and cuts when police arrived, and that there was "definitely" a physical fight between them before Wall was killed.

"I think it was a very mutual situation between the two of them in terms of violence," Simon said. "But (Harry) Scribner wasn't aware of that. There was an indication that he believed his daughter was being beaten by the victim. That's what the law looks at. We can't disprove that he didn't know it was mutual."

According to Simon, upon seeing her father open the front door, Jamie Scribner told him that Wall had been "beating her the whole way from L.A." The two had spent the evening in Los Angeles at a wrap party for a film Wall had been working on.

"It was right after she made that claim that Scribner (shot him)," said Simon, who said Scribner's wife, Renee, also heard their daughter say she was being beaten. "Scribner believed his daughter was being beaten. That doesn't mean it actually happened. It means he believed it based on things that were said."

Simon said there was never any indication that this was a premeditated killing and that they were initially thinking seconddegree murder. But after hearing that Jamie Scribner had claimed she had been beaten, and that the trigger was pulled upon that claim, the "heat of passion" clause allowed the charge to be reduced.

"There are no other witnesses, and that's unfortunate," Simon said. "But his daughter was very upset when this happened. It was her boyfriend that was killed. She didn't have time to make up a story to protect her father. She obviously, from what I can tell, is pretty upset with her father."

Simon said Jamie Scribner told police she also yelled, "What are you doing? Put it away," when Scribner went to shoot Wall.

The deputy D.A. said although the charge was reduced to voluntary manslaughter, it certainly wasn't a crime of self-defense.

"The victim was unarmed," Simon said. "He was not a threat."

Also at Tuesday's arraignment, Scribner pleaded not guilty to a new charge of possessing a stolen firearm, which Simon confirmed was the weapon used Nov. 16.

Because of the lesser manslaughter charge, Scribner's bail was reduced from $540,000 to $140,000.

Superior Court Judge Kevin McGee set a hearing for Jan. 5.

Wall's close friend, Vanessa Vuoso, told the Simi Valley Acorn on Wednesday that she and Wall's family were very upset about Scribner's charges being reduced.

"I just don't understand how Mr. Scribner's word can warrant a reduced charge," Vuoso said. "Yes, he is saying Bryan was violent with Jamie; however, it doesn't appear anywhere that they have been able to prove that yet. However, it is working. . . . It's wrong, something is wrong. I truly feel there is more to this story that is not being told, and I am not sure why."

Vuoso said her friend wasn't violent and suggested Jamie Scribner was the more aggressive of the two.

"Bryan's family and other friends are right," Vuoso said. "Bryan wouldn't hurt a fly. Bryan was not a violent or a mean person in any way. If anything he was always in a good mood (and) laughing."

But Simon said the couple had a history of violence.

"We know Jamie Scribner and the victim had kind of a volatile relationship," Simon said. "Not that it had been all him but that there had been some domestic violence."

If convicted of the charges, Scribner is facing up to 21 years in jail, though he could also be sentenced to probation, Simon said.