Desmonte Leonard took the stand today in his own defense on Friday, Oct. 3, at the Lee County Justice Center.
Leonard answered questions posed by defense attorney Jeff Duffey about the events of that night and told jurors he fired his gun after he was being kicked on the ground.
Leonard is charged in the capital murder of three people on the night of June 9, 2012
Judge Jacob A. Walker called court into session and 9:30 a.m. and the prosecution immediately rested their case. The defense called Leonard to the stand.
Leonard said he was invited to a party at University Heights, and he brought his friends Christopher Traywick and Jeremy Thomas.
DeAngelo Benton had gone, "into a rage" about with the way Leonard had looked at him, so Leonard said he decided to leave.
As Leonard was walking out with Traywick and Thomas, Turquorius Vines and others attacked him, and he ended up on the ground being kicked.
"I was forced to make a split [second] decision so I pulled out the gun and started firing," Leonard said. "I thought I was going to be killed."
Earlier in the night, Thomas and Eric Mack got into an argument and Leonard broke them up, according to Leonard.
"I told (Thomas) to chill, because we didn't come here for that," Leonard said. "I said the same thing to Mack and he actually shook my hand."
Mack was later wounded in the shooting.
Traywick brought the Glock-22 and gave it to Leonard during the party.
Later, Mack approached Leonard and said Benton had a problem with him, according to Leonard.
"(Mack) said, 'My partner doesn't like the way you're looking at him," Leonard said. "Mack walked up to me and said, '(Benton's) drunk, just stay out of eye sight."
Benton grew angrier and was taken outside by Mack, according to Leonard.
"(Benton) said you're not going to make it out of Auburn tonight," Leonard said.
After the shooting Leonard said they got in his 1988 Chevrolet Caprice and fled.
Thomas threw the pistol out of the window, according to Leonard.
After turning himself into police on June 12, 2012, Leonard told Auburn Police Division detectives his side of the story.
"I told them I was sorry for the loss of the people, I was sorry for the families that had to take a loss like that," Leonard said.
During cross examination Leonard answered questions posed from District Attorney Robert Treese.
"I would have used anything I had to protect myself. If I would have had a slingshot I would of used it," Leonard said.
"So you were just lucky you had a firearm?" Treese said.
"Yes sir," Leonard said.
Dr. Lauren Reba-Harrelson, a forensic psychologist, testified a gunshot wound Leonard suffered in 2008 caused him to have hyper-awareness about the possibility of an attack on his abdominal or back area.
"Based on all of the information, I do believe Mr. Leonard was affected by the 2008 gunshot wound," Reba-Harrelson said.
However, Reba-Harrelson testified Leonard did not meet the criteria for a mental illness at the time of the 2012 shooting at University Heights.
Hyper-awareness is a symptom that comes with mental illness, but one is not mentally ill just because of the symptom, according to Reba-Harrelson.
Defense attorneys also called Tashonda Stevens to the stand.
Stevens testified that she was the one who invited Leonard to the party.
She witnessed Vines take a swing at one of Leonard's friends and testified that she heard someone say about Leonard, "On my baby, that boy going to die tonight."
On cross examination, Stevens admitted that she lied when police initially questioned her on the night of the shooting. She testified that she told police that she had not known Leonard before that night.
Police asked Stevens to pick Leonard out of a lineup at 4:15 a.m. on June 10, 2012, and lied when she said she could not recognize him.
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