A California jury has awarded a house painter 58 million dollars in damages after his skull was smashed in a bar brawl, causing severe brain damage, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Antonio Lopez Chaj, 43, was beaten up by an unlicensed bouncer as he tried to stop a fight between his nephews and a bartender in April 2010 at a Los Angeles bar.

Doctors were forced to remove part of his skull and brain after the beating, and photos of Chaj showed his skull to be badly deformed.

According to evidence heard in the civil case, the bouncer beat him repeatedly with a baton, kicked him in the head and smashed his head on the ground.

Chaj can no longer speak, and the severity of his injuries means he may not even understand the court decision, his lawyer was quoted as saying.

"I have explained to him that he now is going to be taken care of the rest of his long life," Sayre said after the verdict against the security company, DGSP Security and Patrol Services. "As you can see, 25 per cent of his skull is missing."

The judgement includes 11.5 million dollars for future medical expenses, 35 million dollars for past pain and suffering and 11 million dollars for future pain and suffering.