A witness who gave detailed testimony last year that he saw rapper Beanie Sigel repeatedly shoot and critically injure a man in 2003 backpedaled on the witness stand yesterday, mumbling and repeatedly saying he could not remember some details.
Sigel, 31, is accused of shooting Terrence Speller near 52d Street and Larchwood Avenue in West Philadelphia on July 1, 2003. The rap star, whose real name is Dwight Grant, has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and related charges.David Aimes, who testified that he is like a brother-in-law to Speller, slouched over in the witness chair and covered his face with his hand through most of his testimony.
“Mr. Aimes, did you see the defendant fire the gun?” Assistant District Attorney Lynn Nichols asked.
“Not that I can recall,” Aimes replied.
“Did you see the defendant shoot Terrence?” Nichols persisted.
“No,” he replied.
“Did you see the defendant with a gun?” Nichols asked, with growing exasperation.
“No,” Aimes answered.
At one point, Aimes turned to Common Pleas Court Judge Karen Shreeves-Johns and asked: “Your Honor, do I have to answer these questions?”
Shreeves-Johns told him he had to continue.
“I really don't want to be involved in this case, because I got to think about my own life,” Aimes said sullenly.
He occasionally glanced at Sigel as he testified.
Aimes said that he lied to police and has given them different versions of that night's events.
He even vacillated during his testimony yesterday.
“Who shot Terrence?” Nichols asked at another point.
“The defendant,” Aimes replied after a long pause.
“Did you see the defendant fire the gun?” Nichols asked later.
“I can't remember,” Aimes answered.
Defense attorney Fortunato Perri Jr. picked apart numerous inconsistencies in Aimes' statements to police, in his testimony yesterday, and in his testimony in April 2004, Sigel's first trial on the charges.
That jury announced that it was hopelessly deadlocked after five days of deliberations. Perri argued then, as in this trial, that Aimes and Speller could not be believed or trusted. No physical evidence links Sigel to the crime.
“You didn't see this shooting, did you?” Perri asked Aimes yesterday.
“Not really,” Aimes replied.
“You're going by what other people told you, aren't you?” Perri asked.
“A little bit,” Aimes said.
Also yesterday, Detective Mary Kuchinsky testified that when she interviewed Aimes within hours of the shooting, he wept but refused to tell her who shot his friend.
“He told me he wished he could tell me, but he had family on the street” and feared for them, Kuchinsky said.
“He appeared to be afraid, to me,” she said.
Sigel, who wore a black pin-striped suit to court yesterday, listened closely to the proceedings, his chin resting on his hand. He is free on $150,000 bail. The trial is scheduled to continue today.
Contact staff writer Jacqueline Soteropoulos at 215-854-4497 or jsoteropoulos@phillynews.com.