Posted on 05/22/2004 5:50:30 AM PDT by Eldedomuerto
A 30-year-old Jackson man was bound over on five assault counts in a Blackman Township tavern brawl, which left a bride-to-be with a ruptured spleen and shattered wedding plans.
During a preliminary exam Thursday, Dennis Dale Parker was identified by witnesses -- and the victim herself -- as the one who punched Tara Hall twice in the abdomen May 7 at Pauly's Sports Bar and Grill.
The defendant also kicked her three to four times while she laid on the dance floor, one witness testified.
Parker remains free on $5,000 cash surety bond.
Hall, who was hospitalized four days after having her spleen removed, had to cancel her wedding that had been scheduled for May 8. She grimaced Thursday as she walked to the stand in District Judge R. Darryl Mazur's courtroom.
She was assaulted when she stepped between the defendant and her cousin Raymond Hall, who received a cut over his left eye after being struck with a glass.
Tara Hall joined friends at the bar for what she described as a "last drink and dance night" May 6. Afterward, the women planned to go grocery shopping for a wedding rehearsal dinner, she testified.
"All of a sudden I was getting punched," Tara Hall said. "My whole body instantly hurt."
She didn't remember being kicked when she fell, though.
Christopher Dennis, a Pauly's bouncer, later testified he saw Parker and others kick both the woman and Raymond Hall, who were lying injured on the floor, as he and another doorman rushed in.
The melee ensued after Raymond Hall objected to Parker trying to dance with his wife, Rebecca Hall, according to testimony.
"It just seems like he wanted to do something about it," said Raymond Hall, 23, of Jackson.
"I just didn't want him dancing with my wife."
Only the prosecution's version of events were heard in the probable cause hearing. Parker's attorney didn't put any defense witnesses on the stand.
"In a bar fight like this, there's always two sides," said Susan Dehncke, Parker's attorney.
Afterward, the defense attorney suggested race fueled the fracas, offering that Raymond Hall and others took umbrage when her client, a black man, tried to dance with Hall's wife.
"I'm also concerned about the descriptions given of who was involved," Dehncke said.
On the stand, Rebecca Hall referred to the four to five assailants who punched and kicked her husband as "colored."
An assault and battery warrant was issued for a second man in the incident at the Lansing Avenue bar.
Two other men were questioned but weren't identified as taking part, said Officer Rick Gillespie, Blackman Township Public Safety Department.
Parker is charged with three felonies, the most serious being assault to do great bodily harm less than murder, and two misdemeanors.
GROOMZILLA!
I feel a C&W song comin' on:
"He vented his spleen / and ruptured hers..."
Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!
Well, afterall, they were in Blackman Township...
You don't say.
Afterward, the defense attorney suggested race fueled the fracas, offering that Raymond Hall and others took umbrage when her client, a black man, tried to dance with Hall's wife.
What's race got to do with it? I would "take umbrage" if any man tried to dance with my wife -- I don't care what race he is!
My wife's an adult.. she can and does make such decisions completely on her own..
I don't always feel like dancing... and I trust her to dance, and not skip off to the parking lot with some bozo..
If there are any transgressions, she will probably deal with it herself, right there on the dance floor..
And if somebody has a problem "taking NO for an answer", I'm more than willing (and able) to make her answer clear..
(again, if she needs it)
I once watched her drop a 200 pounder with a knee to the crotch, for trying to check her bra size..
(ouch!!!)
I was takin a trip out to L.A. Toolin along in my cheverolet Tokin on a number and diggin on the radio Just as I crossed the Mississippi line I heard that highway start to whine And I knew that left rear tire was about to blow Well the spare was flat and I got uptight Cause there wasn't a filling station in sight So I just limped on down the shoulder on the rim I went as far as I could and when I stopped the car It was right in front of this little bar Kind of a red-neck lookin joint called the Dew Drop Inn I stuffed my hair up under my hat And told the bartender that I had a flat And ywould he be kind enough to give me change for a one There was one thing I was sure proud to see There wasn't a soul in the place except for him and me He just looked disgusted and pointed toward the telephone I called up the station down the road a ways He said he wasn't very busy today And he could have somone out there in just about 10 minutes or so He said," Now, you just stay right where yer at!" And I didn't bother to tell the darn fool That I sure as hell didn't have anyplace else to go So I ordered up a beer and sat down at the bar When some guy walked in and said, "Who owns this car With the peace sign, the mag wheels and the four on the floor?" He looked at me and I damn near died And I decided that I'd just wait outside So I laid a dollar on the bar and headed for the door Just when I wthought I'd get outta there with my skin These 3 big dudes come strollin in With one old drunk chick and some fella with green teeth Now the last thing I wanted was to get into a fight In Jackson Mississippi on a Saturday night Especially when there was three of them and only one of me I was almost to the door when the biggest one Said, "You tip your hat to this lady, son!" And when I did, all that hair fell out from underneath They all started laughin and I felt kinda sick And I knew I better think of something pretty quick So I just reached out and kicked old green teeth right in the knee Now he let out a yell that'd curl yer hair But before he could move I grabbed me a chair And said "Now watch him Folks cause he's a fairly dangerous man!" "You may not know it but this man is a spy. He's a undercover agent for the FBI And he's been sent down here to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan!" He was still bent over holdin on to his knee But everybody else was looking and listening to me And I laid it on thicker hand heavier as I went "He's a friend of them long haired, hippy-type, pinko fags! I betchya he's even got a commie flag tacked up on the wall inside of his garage." "He's a snake in the grass, I tell ya guys. He may look dumb but that's just a disguise, He's a mastermind in the ways of espionage" "Would you believe this man has gone as far As tearing Wallace stickers off the bumpers of cars. And he voted for George McGovern for President." They started lookin real suspicious at him He jumped up and said "Now just wait a minute Jim! You know he's lying I been living here all of my life!" "I'm a faithful follower of Brother John Birch And I belong to the Antioch Baptist Church. And I aint even got a garage, you can call home and ask my wife!" Then he started saying somethin bout the way I was dressed But I didn't wait around to hear the rest I was too busy moving and hoping I didn't run outta luck When I hit the door I was making tracks And they were just taking my car down off the jacks So I threw the man a twenty and jumped in and fired that mother up Mario Andretti wouldda sure been proud Of the way I was movin when I passed that crowd Coming out the door and headed toward me at a trott Now I guess I should of gone ahead and run But somehow I just couldn't resist the fun Of chasing them all just once around the parking lot I had them all out there steppin and fetchin Like their heads was on fire and their asses was catchin then I figgered I had better go ahead and split before the cops got there When I hit the road I was really wheelin Had gravel flyin and rubber squeelin And I didn't slow down till I was almost to Arkansas I think I'm gonna reroute my trip I wonder if anybody'd think I'd flipped If I went to L.A., via Omaha
My sentiments exactly.
Is that fair? Some states are letting fairies get married and this state wouldn't let this woman get married because she didn't have a spleen.
More beer.
Lots more.
Hi, my name is Tara, and I met my husband, Dennis, on eharmony.com.
MI = Michigan
I don't have to read very far between the lines to realize that this was probably a singles bar of some sort.
You wouldn't take your wife in there in the first place.
You got that right.
My wife's an adult.. she can and does make such decisions completely on her own.. I don't always feel like dancing... and I trust her to dance, and not skip off to the parking lot with some bozo..
I didn't mean for it to sound like I wouldn't trust her. I'd still take umbrage, though. As for that 200-pounder, I'd say he got what he had coming. Ouch!
It is always possible that there are some important facts missing from this account. But based on what's here, this is no "brawl." You have a man who assaulted another man with a dangerous weapon (the glass). Then this same guy hits a woman and then kicks her several times after she is down. There is nothing in this account that contradicts the most obvious explanation: that the arrestee is a viscious thug who went looking for someone to injure. The fact that a black person caught committing a crime of violence against white people subsequently blames the "racism" of the victims for setting him off is so commonplace and obviously self-serving as to be unworthy of serious consideration.
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