A jury of 12 has found 26-year-old Anthony Spencer Jr. of Batavia guilty on all counts.
Spencer who goes by the nickname “Trouble” was on trial for the July 18th assault on East Main Street in Batavia that left the victim clinging to life, bleeding uncontrollably from his arm.
The jury reached their verdict at around 9:30 this morning after beginning deliberations at approximately 3 o’clock yesterday. Spencer was found guilty on count #1 of gang assault in the first degree and on count # 2 of assault in the first degree.
Co-defendant JW Hardy III, also known as “Dub” or “Dubs,” accepted a plea deal in December regarding the incident. He was ultimately sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Spencer’s trial began at the beginning of this week with jury deliberations extending to this morning.
District Attorney Lawrence Friedman called an 18-year-old witness to testify as a witness of the assault who identified Spencer as one of the attackers.
She testified that the suspects were getting into a verbal altercation with the victim, threatening him to make a payment or something would happen to him or his friend.
She said the victim went inside his residence and came out wielding a knife, then threatened other people in the area including her briefly.
A group of around 15 people gathered in the area.
Somehow co-defendant JW “Dubs” Hardy allegedly obtained the knife from the victim and soon the group turned the tables on the victim and began chasing and beating him up and down the street.
The witness said that Spencer hit the victim in the head with a cooking pot with full force several times.
A dented cooking pot with a broken handle was submitted as evidence that the item was used with great force. The cooking pot was located at the scene and the handle was found on Swan Street in between the scene and where Spencer was picked up at 218 Ellicott St.
There was black and white surveillance video submitted into evidence in which Spencer is identified by the witness.
Defense Attorney Frederick Rarick argued that the testimony of the witness was suspect because she had only just met the suspect earlier that evening and that she was protecting other members of her group that he alleged were involved in the assault.
He questioned her ability to accurately recall the event because she admitted to drinking and smoking pot the night of the assault.
Rarick also noted in cross-examination of both Genesee County Sheriff’s Deputy Kevin Forsyth and Batavia Police Detective Thaddeus Mart that they observed no blood on Spencer’s clothing when he was taken into custody the night of the assault.
DA Friedman argued the lack of blood on Spencer’s clothing proved nothing.
Spencer is scheduled for sentencing on April 6th at 9:15 a.m. and following a request by the DA, was ordered to be held without bail pending sentencing.
The investigation into the incident still continues as there were other alleged suspects involved who fled the scene.
Via our news partner, WBTA
