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Hartsfield On Stand: 'I Didn't Do This'

Defendant Testifies As Attempted Murder Trial Enters Seventh Day

POSTED: Wednesday, November 4, 2009
UPDATED: 9:43 pm EST November 4, 2009

Seven days into his trial on charges he shot Jaguars player Richard Collier, Tyrone Hartsfield took the stand in his own defense and cried as he said: "I would never do nothing like that to nobody."

Hartsfield said his fiancée drove him home from a San Marco nightclub and a concert the night of Sept. 2 and he was not outside the Riverside apartment when Collier was shot.

Collier survived being shot 14 times, but remains paralyzed from the waist down, and his left leg was amputated.

"I wanted to tell him so bad when he came in (to testify), 'I didn't do this,'" Hartsfield testified about when Collier testified for the prosecution last week.

Tyrone Hartsfield testifies
Tyrone Hartsfield takes the stand in his own defense Wednesday morning.
Hartsfield, accused of attempted murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, cried several times during about three hours on the stand. He contradicted most of the testimony from the state's key witness, Stephan Wilson, a convicted bank robber.

Wilson testified last week and again on Tuesday that he was in the car with Hartsfield and saw him get out in Riverside, heard gunfire, and he returned to the car to say, "I finally got him."

Wilson agreed to wear a hidden microphone to record a long, expletive-laced conversation in which Hartsfield is heard saying: "The only thing they got on me is you."

On Tuesday, the defense team attacked Wilson's credibility, saying he was on federal probation and who would do anything to keep from going back to prison.

On the stand Wednesday, Hartsfield said he felt Wilson and other of his friends lied to police about his involvement with Collier's shooting so they could collect a reward offered in the case.

"I hope that guy ain't went down there (the police station) lied on me because I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt," Hartsfield testified about Wilson.

Stefan Wilson cross examined
Stephfan Wilson began his third day on the stand Tuesday as the defense attorney began its cross examination.
Prosecutors allege that Hartsfield shot Collier out of revenge because the football player had knocked him unconscious during an encounter in a different bar five months before the shooting.

On the stand, Hartsfield denied wanting revenge.

"I've got nothing to do with it. I'm not that kind of person," Hartsfield testified. "The person that did this crime, ya'll need to find him, because it wasn't me. Ya'll need to find him."

When it came time for the state's cross-examination, Assistant State Attorney Bernie de la Rionda implied Hartsfield's tears were part of his plan to convince the jury he is innocent.

"Do you want to do any more crying before we get started?" de la Rionda asked. "No sir," Hartsfield replied.

After Hartsfield stepped down, his defense team called several witnesses attempting to discredit Wilson and questioning the phone records and information on the audio recording he made.

The trial began on Oct. 26 and the prosecution rested on Tuesday afternoon. Judge Mallory Cooper was hoping it could be completed this week.

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