By Harriet Ryan
Court TV

Thomas Junta, accused of beating another hockey dad to death over a youth scrimmage, found his most emphatic advocate yet Tuesday when his 12-year-old son took the stand to defend his father against manslaughter charges.

Quinlan Junta told jurors his father threw only three "really quick" punches and only after victim Michael Costin, the informal referee in a July 5, 2000, hockey game at the Burbank Ice Arena in Reading, Mass., leapt on his back.

"He was trying to punch and kick my dad," said Quinlan, the younger of Junta's two children. "My dad hit him three quick times, really quick." Though his testimony was carried live on Court TV, the network did not show his face because of his age.

The assault caused a tear in Costin's artery, ultimately killing the 40-year-old father of four. In what is considered the country's worst case of "sideline rage," Junta, 44, faces 20 years in prison.

Prosecutors allege Junta pummeled Costin to death in a furor over the referee's policing of the game and during their case. Junta, however, claims he acted in self-defense after Costin ambushed him with a sucker-punch.

Junta's son, the second witness in a defense case that is to include testimony from Junta himself, gave unqualified support for his father's version of events, but it was unclear how his testimony played to jurors.

The sixth-grader frequently looked over at his father, whose eyes were welling with tears, at the defense table, and some of his answers closely mirrored phrases used by defense lawyer Thomas Orlandi. For example, other witnesses have denied hearing Junta warn Costin, "Keep your skates down" during an initial fracas, but Quinlan said he heard those exact words.

Quinlan's account also seemed at odds with the testimony of John Cullen, a real estate developer skating at the rink who testified for the prosecution Monday. Cullen said Junta's son never emerged from the locker room during the fatal altercation, but Quinlan testified that he ran into the arena lobby in time to see the fight. He also said he never saw Cullen in the locker room.

The 12-year-old's account starkly contrasted with prosecution witness Virginia Brings who testified Tuesday morning that the elder Junta ignored her pleas to "think of the kids" during the fight and instead punched Costin at least 10 times.

"It's something I'll never forget. He went on and on, and I kept hollering and saying, 'Stop' and I was thinking the whole time he's either going to kill this man or he was going to have brain damage," said Brings, who was at the rink to watch her grandson practice.

Both Quinlan Junta and Brings said the dispute between Costin and Junta began after "stick practice" at the rink got rough with boys, aged 10 to 12, body-checking each other. Quinlan said a bigger player elbowed him in the head, driving him to tears. His father, watching from the stands, stormed onto the ice to protest the roughness, but Costin, who was refereeing, dismissed him, saying, "That's hockey."

The men continued bickering outside the locker rooms when practice was over and what Quinlan Junta called "a word fight" quickly turned into a pushing match. Brings at first said Junta threw a punch then, but later she acknowledged not being sure. During the argument, Junta's shirt was shredded and his gold chain ripped from his neck. Rink workers separated the pair and Junta left the building, telling Quinlan to dress quickly.

But Junta returned to the building several minutes later, encountered Costin and they fought again, this time with fatal results. The defense maintains Junta re-entered the rink to get his son, not to make trouble, and defense witness Norvetta Pinch, a skate instructor, testified Tuesday that Junta was walking slowly and had a "stone cold sober" look on his face as he walked back into the rink. She, however, did not see the fight break out.