SOUTH BEND — After calling just four witnesses, the prosecution has rested its case in the trial of David Snyder Wednesday afternoon. The former Roseland Town council member is accused of hitting and threatening fellow Councilman Ted Penn at Roseland Town Hall early last year.

Snyder faces a misdemeanor battery charge and a felony intimidation with the threat to kill charge.

Prosecutors staked their case on Penn's testimony, but at times, it was Penn who ended up on the defensive.

As Penn walked into the courthouse to present his testimony, he did it with an air of confidence.

"The truth will win out," he said with a smile.

Prosecutor Joel Gabrielse didn't waste any time trying to get right to the heart of the matter.

He asked Penn if he remembered the night of January 5, 2007.

"Very clearly," replied Penn.

Penn then told jurors that David Snyder grabbed his shirt after the two met in the hallway near his Town Hall office. He says the two then fell to the ground. He then said Snyder got up and, along with his father Russell Snyder, began kicking him.

"I said, David, I think you've cracked my skull. Russell, you'll go to jail," testified Penn. "He got down by my head and said 'I'm going to kill you. I'm really going to kill you. And if you tell anyone about this assault, I'm really going to kill you."

Prosecutor Joel Gabrielse also showed the jury 14 pictures of yellow and purple bruises on Penn's head, mouth and legs.

During cross-examination, Snyder's attorney Ed Hearn asked Penn if it was fair to say he didn't like Snyder and his wife Dorothy.

"Politically, and personally, at most times, no," replied Penn.

He also asked Penn why he called his friend Michael Schalk immediately following the alleged fight.

"Did it ever occur to you to call 911?" Hearn asked.

"No, I just wanted someone to there to protect me," said Penn.

"You called your wife first, did you not?" asked Hearn.

"That is correct," replied Penn. "I couldn't get through."

Hearn then asked Penn if he was the one who took the the first swing.

"I've never touched that man. I never took a swing at him," Penn replied.

"You closed the door and locked it?" asked Hearn.

"After the Snyder's left, that is correct," said Penn.

"How about the trash can that was knocked over? Did you knock it over after the door was closed?" asked Hearn.

"No," replied Penn. "I don't know how it was knocked over."

"They were trying to set me up, that I was the culprit," Penn told WSBT following his testimony. [They said] I forced David to hit me, [that] I forced David to beat me up, [that] I caused it all to come about. I never touched the man."

Judge Jerome Frese denied Hearn's motion to exclude Penn as a witness for the third straight day. Hearn has repeatedly said he hasn't had enough time to line up an "expert" witness to testify about potential interaction with a list of medications Penn was taking at the time of the alleged fight.

But Judge Frese disagreed.

"You have not offered a single iota of suggestion that this combination of medications would alter perception whatsoever of the witness," he said.

Over the last two days of the trial, Frese has repeated told Hearn that he could have drug interaction questions answered over the phone in a matter of minutes. He also said he'd issue a subpoena to any "expert" witness Hearn wanted to call.

After the jury was released for the day, Hearn read from a deposition taken on August 15, 2007, where Penn said an anxiety medication he was taking called "Zantac" could "dull his memory."

Zantac is commonly used to treat and prevent stomach ulcers.

Hearn read the following transcript of that deposition:

Hearn: "Do you recall any other details about that night?"

Penn: "No, not that I recall right now."

Hearn: "Is there anything that might refresh your memory?"

Penn: "Yes. To get off my medications."

Hearn: "What medications are those?"

Penn: "Anxiety medications and other things that dull memory."

But on Wednesday, Penn changed his story.

"I didn't know how that Zantac was going to affect me," he told WSBT following his testimony. "I wasn't even taking it, even though I said I was. That was my intent, to start taking it that day. But I never did."

Judge Frese himself followed up next.

"Do you have any memory problems today? Do you have any hallucinations because of your medications? Have you had any warnings from pharmacists or doctors about drug interactions?" he asked Penn.

Penn emphatically replied "no" to each one.

"[Hearn] is trying anything he can to discredit me," Penn told WSBT. "My wife can tell you, I probably have one of the best memories you'd ever want to run across with anybody. I can remember every detail now or 50 years ago."

Hearn's final accusation against Penn was the most intriguing.

"Did you ever tell any of your constituents you would stage an altercation to get David Snyder out of office?" he asked Penn.

"That is a fabrication, and a 100 percent lie, as God is my witness," Penn replied, before Hearn could even finish the sentence.

After court adjourned, Penn was still steaming about the question.

"I'd be stupid [to do that]," he told WSBT. "It could kill me. With my age and my medical condition, I'd have to be suicidal to want to have that happen."

But during his opening statement, Hearn said he has a witness to back up those claims. That, so far, unnamed person could testify Thursday morning, as the defense begins presenting its case.

But Penn isn't concerned, even if that claim does surface again.

"Even if they come out with it, because there is a couple of people that will lie for them, it's going to be perjury. They'll get them on perjury," he said.

Gabrielse also called Michael Schalk to the stand on Wednesday. He testified that he received a call from Penn immediately following the alleged fight. He told jurors Penn said David Snyder and his father were beating him up.

Both Penn's wife Rosemary, Snyder's wife Dorothy and his father Russell are expected to testify Thursday.

There's been no word from the defense so far about whether David Snyder might take the stand.