Dustin Diamond, best known as Samuel "Screech" Powers on the TV show "Saved by the Bell" posted $10,000 bail and was released from a Wisconsin jail on Monday.
An hour later, Diamond appeared in court with his private attorney, Thomas Alberti, to address accusations that Diamond stabbed a man in a Port Washington bar.
The 37-year-old actor was charged with second-degree recklessly endangering safety, disorderly conduct and carrying a concealed weapon, according to People. Diamond admitted to police that he was armed during the Christmas day fight and claimed he was defending his 27-year-old fiancée, Amanda Schutz.
"Dustin doesn't feel like he is being wronged," Alberti told People. "He gets that when something like this happens, the police get involved and the court figures it out. He says the Port Washington police have been nothing but exemplary. He gets it. He knows there is a process in this country and in the end he will be exonerated."
A motion filed by Alberti on Dec. 29 stated:
"The State is in possession of photographs and/or Police Officer statements that may reasonably conclude that [Diamond's] [fiancée], Amanda Schutz, had been punched in the face and forcibly held by more than one adult male. [Diamond] produced a pocketknife in a desperate attempt to defend his [fiancée] from further harm. [Diamond] hoped to deter the aggressors with the only option that he had: a pocketknife. It was not until one of the aggressors attempted to tackle [Diamond] that any alleged injury occurred."
The stabbing victim, only identified as "Casey," said he saw Diamond reach toward him, but did not realize he had been stabbed at the time. The half-inch puncture wound was not life-threatening, according to People.
Schutz was released after being charged with disorderly conduct and released, according to CNN.
"It is just an everyday tool," Alberti said of pocketknives. "It is not at all uncommon. Dustin has zero criminal history. He is not a thug walking around trying to stick people up."
"Dustin and Amanda are neat people," Alberti also said, according to People. "They are upbeat. Dustin is a comedian and he likes making people laugh and pleasing people. He is a good-natured person."
Diamond released a book called "Behind the Bell" about his allegedly sordid years on the 1990s sitcom, "Saved by the Bell." The book was met with criticism by former cast members.
Diamond released a sex tape in 2006 called "Screeched - Save by the Smell," but later told the Oprah Winfrey Network that he wasn't personally in it. Per Diamond, he used a body double for the film.
In 2007, Diamond appeared on "Celebrity Fit Club," in which he clashed heavily with trainer Harvey Walden IV, a former sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps, and challenged the show's host to "physical combat."
Diamond's latest movie is 2014's independent film, "Hamlet A.D.D."
