Hall County Solicitor General Stephanie Woodard recused her office from the case of Juan Luna, a local restaurant owner who is accused of pulling a gun on another restaurant owner.

Luna, who owns Luna's restaurant in downtown Gainesville, faces charges of simple assault and pointing a firearm in connection with the June 3 incident that also involved Scott Dixon, owner of Scott's on the Square.

Woodard said she has worked with both Luna and Dixon on catered events and recused her office because of her relationship with them.

"Mr. Dixon has been the caterer on many charitable events I've worked with, as has Mr. Luna," she said.

Luna also catered the first fundraiser Woodard worked on after she entered office as solicitor general.

"They're both significant charitable contributors, and I'll continue to work with them in community and civic events," she said.

Once Woodard's office received the complete report on the case, she wrote a letter of recusal to the state attorney general's office.

The attorney general's office will select a special prosecutor to serve on the case.

Luna's arraignment date was set for Wednesday but will be continued until a special prosecutor is selected.

In many cases, another solicitor general from the state will be chosen to substitute as special prosecutor, although the replacement could be a district attorney or other current sworn prosecutor.

The two men were arguing around 10:45 p.m. in a Maple Street alley when Luna approached Dixon, according to a Gainesville Police report.

Dixon told The Times in June that they were arguing about Luna hiring away Dixon's head chef. Luna has said he was just going home and stopped to talk when Dixon "got all bent out of shape."

The altercation escalated as Luna allegedly retrieved a nightstick from his vehicle and approached Dixon in a threatening manner, according to the police report. After a brief verbal exchange, Luna reportedly drove away only to return a short time later.

According to the report, he then got out of his car and pointed a black semi-automatic handgun at Dixon.
Luna told police about the argument but denied touching the handgun during the exchange. He also said he hadn't carried the baton with him on that particular night.