Closing arguments are expected Wednesday in a jury trial for a Durango man accused of felony assault for seriously injuring a man in a late-night brawl last year in downtown Durango.
Hakim Antoin Reddy, 38, took the witness stand in his own defense Tuesday – the second day of what is expected to be a three-day trial in 6th Judicial District Court.
Reddy said he acted in self-defense, but prosecutors said he initiated the fight.
The incident occurred about 1:30 a.m. June 13, 2015, in the 100 block of West College Drive, near the Durango Smoke Shop.
Reddy told jurors he drank the equivalent of 12 beers while celebrating his 37th birthday. He started drinking at Orio’s Roadhouse before going to the Wild Horse Saloon, where he met a woman and they danced for several songs. He said he sensed two men “leering” at him throughout the night, so he approached them and thanked them for letting him dance with their friend.
As the bars were closing, he and his brother left the saloon. His brother, Badi Reddy, wanted to walk a woman to her car, but one of the two men walking with her physically blocked him from doing so.
Feeling upset, Badi Reddy headed back toward the bar where he told his brother what happened.
Hakim Reddy said he walked toward the men and yelled, “Do you guys want some?”
“I wanted to confront them and ask them why they were pushing around my brother,” he testified.
Reddy said he thought they would have a conversation and possibly engage in some “chest bumping,” but he didn’t anticipate a fight.
The men turned around and walked toward him, he said. One had a fist raised in the air, so Reddy said he head-butted him and punched him. The second man jumped on his back, so he also punched him. With one man knocked out and the other on the ground, Reddy asked if they wanted any more before walking away and going to Denny’s for coffee.
“I felt like I needed to fight my way out because I was going to get beat up,” he said.
He did not notify police.
Deputy District Attorney Justin Fay said Reddy has given contradictory statements, and he questioned whether it is reasonable to think Reddy planned to have a “conversation” with two men by yelling, “Do you guys want some?” while walking hurriedly toward them at 1:30 a.m. on a dark street.
According to an arrest affidavit, both Hakim and Badi Reddy were involved in the fight. But Badi Reddy signed a plea agreement with the District Attorney’s Office in which he pleaded guilty to complacency to assault, a misdemeanor, in exchange for testifying truthfully against his brother.
A woman walking with the two men who were beat up said Hakim and Badi Reddy came out of nowhere and attacked Joshua Sewell and Warren Madden for no reason, according to the affidavit.
Sewell didn’t suffer serious injuries, but Madden was airlifted 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.
Seven women and seven men are serving on the jury. The trial is being overseen by District Judge Suzanne Carlson.
shane@durangoherald.com
