NORTHAMPTON — Lawyers Tuesday made opening statements and heard witness testimony Tuesday on the first day of the trial of Malek F. Bosmond, who is accused of shooting another man in the leg in Amherst in 2017.
Bosmond, 26, is on trial in Hampshire Superior Court for unlawful possession of a firearm, assault by means of a dangerous weapon, and reckless assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon. He is also being charged with witness intimidation.
In his opening statement, First Assistant Northwestern District Attorney Steven Gagne said Bosmond had come to the home of Jessica Santana unannounced with his friend, Akeili Brown, around 9:30 p.m. on Dec. 19, 2017, to ask Santana if she wanted to hang out. Santana, who lived at Mill Valley Apartments and was the first witness, said no and Bosmond left, Gagne said.
Gagne said Bosmond and Brown came back around midnight, knocking on Santana’s door and windows asking whether she was inside. Santana was sharing an “intimate moment” with her boyfriend, Dion Cadiz, at the time, Gagne said.
Bosmond and Brown left once again, Gagne said, Cadiz was still upset and called Bosmond, and they exchanged words, he said. Cadiz then called his stepfather, Charles Simmons, who lives in the same complex, Gagne said, and asked him to come over as he thought there would be a fight.
Simmons tried to calm Cadiz down once he arrived, Gagne said, but it was too late.
“That’s when the knock at the window comes. Mr. Bosmond (and) Mr. Brown have returned for the fight,” Gagne said.
Brown, Simmons and Bosmond started to struggle with one another, Gagne said, when Simmons saw a person behind Brown start to pull something out of their waistband. Simmons and Bosmond are then fighting over a gun, Gagne said, while Brown began to allegedly hit Simmons over the head with a pipe. Simmons tried to push Bosmond away, Gagne said, and the gun fired, striking Simmons in the leg.
Three months later, on March 9, 2018, Gagne said, Santana was driving on the highway when she passed Bosmond, at which point he began to drive erratically and tailgate her. He made a shooting motion to her, Gagne said, and followed her until she drove to the Holyoke Police Department. Bosmond was charged with witness intimidation over the incident.
“When you look at the evidence, ask yourself: Who was on offense that night? And who was playing defense?” Gagne asked the jury. “Who was trying to protect themselves that night, and who was there to hurt someone that night?”
In his opening statement, Bosmond’s defense attorney, Alfred Chamberland, said there were inconsistencies in testimony from witnesses that will come out throughout the case that will show Bosmond was not the shooter.
“The heart of this case is doubt,” Chamberland said. “The heart of this case is uncertainty.”
He said Bosmond and Santana were just friends at the time of the shooting. Bosmond had even bought a birthday present for Santana’s children, Chamberland said, and that it was not unusual for him to show up at her home.
Chamberland said Brown was more agitated than Bosmond when they arrived at Santana’s home the third time.
“Mr. Bosmond isn’t there for a fight,” he said. “Mr. Bosmond doesn’t fight at all.”
Chamberland also cast doubt on the surveillance footage that allegedly captured the incident, saying there was a 40-second lag in the videotape.
“Something happens in that 40 seconds, and we’re not sure what that is,” he said. “But when the videotape picks up again, you see Mr. Simmons, and Mr. Simmons is in a struggle … with someone, but it’s not Mr. Bosmond.”
In the March incident, Chamberland said Bosmond was wearing a GPS monitor that shows he never got within four blocks of the police station in Holyoke.
Simmons, the shooting victim, was the second witness to testify. During Chamberland’s cross-examination, Simmons agreed that he had told police the man who held the gun was 5-foot-4 and that the assailant was a “short, stocky guy.”
Chamberland made Bosmond and Simmons, who said he was 5-foot-9, stand next to one another in front of the jury — the two appeared to be of equal height.
“He was shorter than me,” Simmons said of the man who had the gun following the demonstration.
Gagne asked Simmons about his height again, who relented and said he was 5-foot-9 without shoes and 6-foot-1 with shoes on. Chamberland asked Simmons if he was wearing shoes that night, which Simmons said he was.
Three other people testified during the day, including Santana and two Amherst Police officers who were involved with investigating the case. Judge Richard Carey was presiding and the trial continues Wednesday.
Michael Connors can be reached at mconnors@gazettenet.com.