COMATOSE MAN DIES OF INJURIES AFTER 20 MONTHS.

Byline: Bhavna Mistry Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - A Saugus man rendered comatose for 20 months after starting a fight outside a meeting hall in Newhall has died, sheriff's officials said.

Michael Carlson, 45, of Saugus was attending a support group meeting April 14, 2001, but was asked to leave because he was drunk. He came back after the meeting was over and started a fight, said sheriff's detective Barry Hall of the Los Angeles County Homicide Bureau.

``He sucker punches the biggest guy there,'' Hall said. ``The guy defends himself and punches him back. The force of the punch causes him to fall down and hit his head on the pavement.''

Carlson suffered head and brain injuries and had been in a coma since. He died Dec. 28, 2002.

Wynn Walter, 42, of Chatsworth, who knocked Carlson down, was not held responsible for his death, Hall said.

``It's justifiable self defense,'' said Hall. ``He had his hands in his pocket. He was provoked.''

The case was presented to the District Attorney's Office, which declined to file charges. ``The district attorney was of the opinion that he was defending himself,'' Hall said.

Though he died more than a year and a half after being injured, Carlson's death will be listed as Santa Clarita's sixth homicide of 2001.