04/04/2007 (KFSN) — In April 2006, a Fresno baseball player punched another athlete during a game. That blow broke the jaw of Danny Barajas and landed the other athlete in jail.

The attorney for Danny Barajas believes Fresno Unified is not properly supervising their students. He says if the school district was doing its job, his client would not have suffered such severe injuries.

There are different stories about what led to the brutal punch at the McLane baseball diamond, but we do know that in April 2006, former McLane high school baseball player, Brandon Madrid, threw a punch and hit Danny Barajas in the face. It left the former Fresno High baseball player in the hospital with a broken jaw and his mouth wired shut.

His father, Brian Anthony, explained what happened. He says, “This was not a face to face fight that you might see in a boxing match or just imagine using the theater of mind. It came from the back and it hit him right here.”

Attorney John Malmo is representing Barajas’ family and he says, “Violence in school is becoming an epidemic.” He contends that Fresno Unified is partly to blame because school officials are not correctly supervising their students. Malmo says, “The student who struck our client had a history of violence that should have been recognized, should have been dealt with and was not.”

Malmo is also suing Brandon Madrid for punitive damages. In court, last September, Madrid apologized. He said, “I wish I could take that day back. It was a reaction. I never meant to do anything like that … Hurt anybody … Anything.”

But a judge ordered Madrid to spend several months in jail. Barajas is recovering from the injury, but his attorney says his client is still suffering side effects from the punch.

The lawsuit does not ask for a specific amount of money. Both Brandon Madrid and the school district have not returned our phone calls asking for a comment. However, a family friend of Madrid’s tells us he is out of jail.