WEDNESDAY: SECOND DAY OF TRIAL BEGINS
Day two of the David Snyder intimidation and battery trial focused on two hours of testimony from Ted Penn.
The 65-year-old town council member testified that back in January of 2007 he stopped by Roseland town hall to check his messages.
Penn says David Snyder grabbed his shirt and also grabbed his hand. Penn says Snyder shoved him and the two men fell down.
When David got up he started kicking Penn along with his father Russell Snyder. Penn says the two men kicked him all up and down his body six to ten times.
Snyder also threatened to kill him saying according to Penn, “I’m going to kill you... tell anybody I will really kill you.”
The defense questioned Penn for about an hour. They set up a line of questions about whether Penn staged the fight to get Snyder kicked out of office and into jail.
“To me they were trying to get set up. (like) I was the culprit. I forced David to hit me. I caused it all to come about. I never touched the man, never intended to touch the man, never claimed I was going to have him touch me, that's crazy, I'm a heart patient,” says Ted Penn.
The prosecution also presented pictures taken by Penn's family that showed bruises all over his body.
Thursday the defense is expected to start calling witnesses including Dorothy Snyder.
Opening statements and witness testimony started on Tuesday in David Snyder's trial. Snyder is the former Roseland town councilman accused of beating up fellow councilman, Ted Penn. Snyder is charged with intimidation and battery.
A former Roseland police officer and a St. Joseph County Sheriff's detective testified during Tuesday’s proceedings. The former Roseland officer says Penn was bleeding from his lip and had a bump on the back of his head when he arrived at the alleged crime scene.
The prosecutor says Snyder hit and kicked Penn and threatened to kill him. But the defense argues Penn started the fight with the intent to get Snyder charged with a felony. On the witness stand, the former Roseland police officer says Penn told him before the incident that he "wanted to see Snyder in jail."
A Snyder supporter voiced her opinion outside the courtroom Tuesday. “Why do you believe he's innocent?” Newscenter 16 asked. “Because of Ted Penn, the way he has been with David all this time. It didn't just start when Dave got into council, [it] happened a couple years before that,” says Joan Shafer, a Snyder supporter.
Penn and his supporters declined to comment Tuesday. More witnesses will take the stand tomorrow, when the trial continues at 1:30, Wednesday afternoon.
MONDAY: JURY SELECTION
David Snyder's trial started Monday afternoon with jury selection. The jury was selected around 7 o'clock Monday night.
As Newscenter 16 has been reporting, former Roseland Town Councilman David Snyder is accused of assaulting fellow Councilman Ted Penn. Penn claims Snyder attacked him during a January 2007 town meeting.
Snyder is charged with intimidation and battery.
With a lot of pre-trial publicity on this case, the judge spent much of Monday asking jurors if they could be fair in judging the defendant.
Some admitted they didn't know if they could be impartial, and were subsequently excused from the jury pool.
"I told him I didn't think I could be a fair judge. I have a preconceived notion and I wouldn't want me on a jury if I were in his place," says excused juror Sharon Olivier.
"I just felt everything I've seen on TV and in the news, everything people talk about is negative, it gives you a negative thought. I wanted to be fair to the man. I would hope that I could have been an impartial juror," says Jim Spencer, another excused juror.
If convicted on all charges, Snyder faces up to five and a half years in prison (2-4 years for felony intimidation and 6-18 months for misdemeanor battery).
Court officials say the judge would like to have the trial wrapped up by the end of this week.
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