A new witness in the brutal beating of Australian school teacher Robert Scott in California has come forward, shedding light on what led to the punch that fractured the 26-year-old's skull, damaged his brain and left him in a coma.
The Scott family's US lawyer, Benjamin Tryk, declined to disclose to AAP the identity of the witness.
"We will forward the details to the Fresno police first due to the pending investigation," Mr Tryk said on Wednesday.
The lawyer did say the witness spoke with Mr Scott shortly after the August 17 incident and before his condition deteriorated and he fell into a coma.
Mr Scott was "lucid and level-headed" and described to the witness how his alleged attacker, Gilbert Romero, an associate of the Fresno Bulldogs gang, punched him without provocation, Mr Tryk said.
"Robert said he did not throw a punch, did not attempt to throw a punch and did not pick a fight," Mr Tryk said.
"He said he told Romero he didn't want any trouble and was struck anyway."
The punch knocked Mr Scott down, with his head smashing into the asphalt road.
The incident happened when Mr Scott, who was visiting a friend in Fresno, a city 320km north of Los Angeles, was walking along a residential street at 9pm with another friend, Norwegian tourist Helena Sordal.
Mr Scott had a blood-alcohol reading of 0.24.
Police said Mr Romero claimed Mr Scott had yelled at Mr Romero's girlfriend and their one-year-old son, who were in a parked car.
Mr Romero said when he confronted Mr Scott, the Australian threw half a punch so Mr Romero struck him in self-defence, police said.
Mr Tryk said the new witness reaffirmed that Mr Scott was not aggressive towards Mr Romero.
Mr Scott, a rower, surf-lifesaver and physical education teacher from the mid-north NSW seaside town of Pacific Palms, was flown last week by air ambulance to Sydney and remains on life support in Royal North Shore Hospital.
Mr Romero was arrested by police on August 26 for felony battery, but the district attorney did not file the charges, citing potential self-defence and Mr Scott's intoxication.
Lieutenant Mark Salazar of the Fresno Police Department's murder-robbery unit told AAP the case against Mr Romero could be re-submitted to the DA by the end of the week.
Ms Sordal, who stayed in Fresno for weeks after the incident but had since travelled to Mexico, was willing to speak with police further, Mr Tryk said.
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