MARSHALL -The first day of a two-day jury trial over an alleged assault incident involving a gunshot in 2009 brought testimony from eyewitnesses, law enforcement and a forensic expert on Thursday afternoon in Lyon County District Court.
The defendant in the trial, Berlon Rushoud Curry of Marshall, pleaded innocent in October to charges of second degree assault, terroristic threats and possession of a handgun without a permit. A complaint alleges that Curry possessed a handgun without a permit, pointed the gun at a victim and chambered a round in an incident in March 2009 at J & J Apartments in Marshall.
The jury heard testimony from witnesses for the prosecution on Thursday, and witness examination will continue today.
Curry's trial had been postponed from a date in late June. At the time, the case had been the subject of a letter to the editor sent to the Independent.
John Stidman of Marshall testified that he was visited in the parking lot of J&J Apartments on March 27, 2009, by three men in a car, to talk about a rumor involving Stidman. Stidman said Curry was driving and two other people, Kelvin Andrews and Marlon Mosby, were also in the car.
Stidman said the car stopped in the parking lot, but no one got out.
"I got irritated," Stidman said. He said he tapped on the car windows and tried to get the occupants to come out, but Curry began to drive away. The car parked again, Stidman said, and he was walking toward it when he saw Curry start to get out. Stidman said he saw Curry reach for a gun at his waist.
"I pushed the door (of the car), threw a punch and took off running," Stidman said. He told Lyon County attorney Rick Maes he heard the sound of a round being chambered as he turned to run, and later heard a shot fired. "I'm assuming it was Berlon," Stidman said, because he was the only person out of the car at that time.
Details of the incident varied somewhat in Stidman and other witnesses' testimony. However, Kelvin Andrews and witnesses from the apartment complex did mention low light conditions in the parking lot where the incident took place, and that the incident happened quickly. Witnesses said they either heard a shot fired or saw a person with a gun, but Stidman was the only one who identified the shooter as Curry.
Sgt. Jeff Wenker and Detective Tim Tomasek of the Marshall Police Department said an empty .45 caliber shell casing was found at the scene. After police tried to contact Curry regarding the incident, Tomasek said, Curry turned himself in and turned in a .45 caliber handgun in a case.
However, Erica Henderson, a forensic scientist from the Minnesota BCA, said a test fire of Curry's gun showed it did not match the shell casing found at J&J Apartments. Instead, Henderson said, the casing matched a different .45 caliber gun belonging to Marlon Mosby. Tomasek said Marshall Police took the gun from Mosby after a separate incident in July 2009. Tomasek said Mosby's gun was tested because Mosby possessed the same brand of ammunition as the found shell casing and because Mosby better fit witnesses' physical descriptions of the alleged shooter.
Examination of witnesses in the case, including defense witnesses, continues today.