JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) -A prosecutor described the shooting of Jacksonville Jaguars offensive lineman Richard Collier as a cowardly act of revenge, while a defense attorney told jurors Tuesday that the player had many enemies and police didn’t investigate all of them.
Assistant State Attorney Bernie de la Rionda said defendant Tyrone Hartsfield was carrying a grudge for months after a nightclub altercation with Collier and used a chance meeting at another club as his opportunity to get back at the player.
“Revenge, payback,” de la Rionda shouted as he began his opening arguments. “When this man before you … pulled a trigger and repeatedly shot a defenseless man, he was getting his revenge.”
t paralyzed from the waist down and lost one of his legs. Police used cell phone records to build a case against Hartsfield.
Hartsfield slowly shook his head several times during de la Rionda’s opening statement. The prosecutor said when Hartsfield saw Collier months after the first incident, he called friends to get a gun, and then he and Stephfan Wilson followed Collier and a teammate to the apartment of two women they met at the club.
When the women went inside, leaving the SUV’s back door open, Hartsfield shot Collier from behind, de la Rionda said. No one got a good look at the shooter, but Wilson later told investigators Hartsfield told him about the shooting when he got back in their car.
Defense attorney Ann Finnell said the case isn’t about revenge, but about greed, saying Wilson was on probation for a bank robbery and was trying to avoid going back to prison. Another witness wanted to cash in on reward money, she said.
“Wilson knew what he needed to do to save himself – he told them exactly what they wanted to hear,” Finnell said. “He told them Tyrone Hartsfield was bent on revenge.”
She said there are no credible witnesses placing Hartsfield at the shooting, nor any physical evidence tying him to the shooting.
Collier began testifying on Tuesday.
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