Sep 9, 2008 11:37 am US/Eastern
Witnesses Testify In Homeless Beating Trial
On First Day Of Tesimony, Jurors Saw Surveillance Video Of One Of The Beatings
A Homeless Witness Took The Stand As Well
FT. LAUDERDALE (CBS4) ―
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FAU surveillance camera videotaped the beatings on Jan. 12th 2006 in Fort Lauderdale.
CBS
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Brian Hooks, 21, charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder
CBS4 News
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45-year old Norris Gaynor died of his injuries after he was beaten with a baseball bat
CBS4 News
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Raymond Perez was beaten in the garden of the Church By The Sea
CBS4 News
It's the second day of testimony in a Broward County courtroom in the murder case against two men accused of using baseball bats to beat three homeless men, killing one of them.
Thomas Daugherty, 19, and Brian Hooks, 21, are charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder for their roles in the Jan. 12, 2006, beatings of three men in Fort Lauderdale.
Jurors are expected to hear testimony from witnesses to the alleged beatings on Tuesday.
Monday, prosecutors played a videotape which captured the beating of 60-year old Jacques Pierre outside Florida Atlantic University in downtown Fort Lauderdale. Pierre also testified on Monday.
"I was trying to take the baseball away from them; they were hitting me in my head," said Pierre. He showed the jury the scars on his forehead and scars left behind by 350 stitches in his left arm. The video of Pierre's beating is a key piece of evidence in the case.
Pierre and 52-year old Raymond Perez, who was beaten outside the Church by the Sea, were both hospitalized after the beatings. Norris Gaynor, 45, died of his injuries after he was also beaten with a baseball bat.
Prosecutors say Daugherty and Hooks were high on Xanax, vodka and marijuana when they went out to beat up homeless people but their lawyer says they had no desire to kill or cause serious harm.
Daugherty and Hooks could face life in prison if convicted.
A third suspect, William Ammons, 21, has already accepted a deal from prosecutors to testify against his former friends. He pled guilty in May to felony murder and aggravated assault and is awaiting sentencing.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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