A jury on Wednesday convicted a Durango man of felony assault for a late-night fight that caused serious bodily injury to another man in downtown Durango.
Hakim Antoin Reddy, 38, glanced back at his family in the courtroom gallery, but he showed no signs of emotion after the verdict was read in 6th Judicial District Court.
Jurors deliberated about three hours before reaching their decision.
Reddy faces a mandatory five to 16 years in prison for felony assault. He also was convicted of misdemeanor assault, which carries up to two years in prison. Sentencing is set for 11 a.m. Oct. 31 in District Court.
The assault occurred about 1:30 a.m. June 13, 2015, in the 100 block of West College Drive, near the Durango Smoke Shop.
According to Reddy’s testimony, he engaged two men who physically blocked his older brother from walking a woman to her car. Reddy yelled at the two men, “You want some?” while hurriedly walking toward them.
Reddy said he wanted to have a conversation with the men and possibly engage in some “chest bumping,” but he never planned to fight.
In an interview with police, Reddy said one of the men lunged at him as he approached. But he told jurors the man cocked his fist to throw a punch as he approached.
Reddy said he acted in self-defense when he head-butted one of the men and punched him at least three times. The victim’s friend jumped on his back, and Reddy also punched him. He left them both laying on the ground. He and his brother went to Denny’s for coffee. They never called police.
One of the victims, Warren Madden, was flown to San Juan Regional Medical Center in Farmington with a skull fracture, several broken bones in his face and a hemorrhage in his brain, according to the arrest affidavit. The other victim, Joshua Sewell, was not seriously injured.
Durango defense lawyer Katharine Whitney said the men “did some stupid things that night,” but after approaching Madden and Sewell, Reddy was in over his head, and he did what he needed to do to defend himself. She characterized it as a “bar fight.”
Deputy District Attorney Justin Fay said it was stupid of Reddy to chase down two men late at night on a dark street, but Madden shouldn’t have to bear the brunt of Reddy’s stupidity.
shane@durangoherald.com
