Day 2 Notes from Mercy's Trial, Posted for Michelle Upchurch

September 27, 2007

Vegetarian Network of Dallas member, Michelle Upchurch, has attended the trial of DaShawn Brown, who is accused of stabbing and setting fire to Mercy, a nine month old puppy to punish her for refusing to mate with another dog. Many thanks to Michelle for her efforts and for speaking for animals. She asked me to post her notes from Wednesday, which I did below. As Michelle and others have pointed out, the real heroes in this atrocity are the witnesses who helped Mercy during her ordeal. Margaret******************Here's what happened at Mercy's trial today -- four witnesses testified after we were finally let into the courtroom a little before noon: The first witness testified to seeing a ball of flame turn the corner where he and his friend were. He realized it was an animal when he heard its cries. He threw beer on Mercy to put out the flame. He was angry that this happened and then went to find

out who did this to her. He turned the corner and saw DaShawn coming down the staircase and confronted him. He was so angry at the police's lack of action that he wrote down their badge numbers, etc. The defense attorney pointed out to the jury that this witness was on parole and that the DA's office was paying for his hotel room. The defense attorney asked this witness if he thought DaShawn set Mercy on fire in his apartment and the witness said that he must have because he saw him coming down the stairwell with a can of gasoline. He also testified to DaShawn's lack of concern for Mercy while the cops were there and a little bit of "worry" from his girlfriend for Mercy. The next witness was a peer of DaShawn's uncle (cousin?) who testified that she heard yelps "in the afternoon" (referring to the stabbing of Mercy behind the dumpster). She then stated that the next evening, DaShawn came to her apartment (his uncle/cousin was there) and she asked him if he burned

his own dog and he responded with, "F#$@ that b* & %$." No concern; no remorse. She testified that she had to move out of the apartments a few weeks later after being harassed by DaShawn and people associated with him. The defense attorney would not allow her to finish her sentences and the judge finally sustained related comments. The jury was told to disregard her statements of having to move because of her knowledge of DaShawn's involvement. She also said that she contacted OPK for reward money. The next witness was a gentleman that shortly after returning home heard what at first he thought was a child crying and screaming. He works in the field of emergency response, so he grabbed his first aid kit and ran back outside. He then saw Mercy running around in pain after the flames had been distinguished. Because he is fluent in Spanish, he tried to serve as a translator for the Spanish speaking witnesses, but the cops that were there completely disregarded him.

He testified that later on, a sergeant contacted him to follow-up on how the police acted that night. He also stated that he went to the apartment managers to let them know he had information. The defense attorney actually greeted this witness by trying to speak Spanish and make small-talk. The last witness today used a translator. He is friends with the first witness and experienced putting the fire out on Mercy with the one beer he had in his hand and then his shirt. After doing so, he also wanted to find out who did this to her. He was the first to round the corner of the building and face DaShawn coming down the staircase. He anticipated confrontation so he picked up some rocks on his way around the corner. He testified that DaShawn was aggressive towards him -- and that he was aggressive because he was so angry at what happened. (I noticed that Mercy was not referred to by name today by the lawyers.) He testified that DaShawn followed

him and demanded that he give him his dog back and he told him, "No." He also stated that DaShawn had no regard for Mercy's suffering while the cops were present. The defense attorney ended today by forcing this witness to share with the court that he was an illegal alien.--Michelle

Building a website is a piece of cake. Small Business gives you all the tools to get online.