For the first time since the shooting, former Jacksonville Jaguar Richard Collier came face-to-face in court Tuesday with the man accused of shooting him.
Collier, in his wheelchair, testified against Tyrone Hartsfield, who is on trial for attempted murder, accused of shooting Collier 14 times last year as he sat in an SUV outside a Riverside apartment complex.
Collier was left paralyzed from the waist down and his lower left leg was amputated.
The former Jaguar said he remembers hearing 20 gunshots while he was in his SUV talking to his former teammate Kenny Pettway.
"I could hear them coming from my side, it was right behind me. The back door was opened to me," Collier said. "There was a lot of commotion. I was telling Kenny to drive. I didn't know I'm being hit or not, but there's a lot of commotion. I duck in my seat. The shots are still going."
The 33-year-old ex-convict accused Collier of beating him up at a nightclub five months before the September 2008 shooting. Prosecutors said the shooting was in retaliation for the nightclub fight.
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On the stand Tuesday, Collier talked about the incident at Club Soho, saying he hit Hartsfield three times.
"He looks like he wants to hit me, so I hit him first," Collier said. "He had a snarl on his face, fist balled up."
Collier said he moved to a new home over the summer and got a new car because he heard Hartsfield found out where he lived.
Prosecutors claimed they have audio recordings and phone records proving Hartsfield planned to shoot Collier.
Collier did admit he did not see who shot him, and defense attorneys are honing in on that statement, saying that Hartsfield is wrongly accused.
Pettway also took the stand Tuesday recalling what happened that night and how he and Collier were ambushed.
"I didn't know what happened, why it was happening," Pettway said. "We were sitting there one minute and the next minute my friend was lying there shot up. So I didn't know what was going on."
Under cross examination, Pettway also admitted he didn't see who was shooting.
In opening statements, defense attorney Ann Finnell argued there's no evidence placing Hartsfield at the scene of the shooting.
"We can't tell you anything about the shooter, whether it was a man, a woman, whether the person was a black person or a white person," Finnell said.
Finnell said people were so highly motivated by the high reward to find the man who shot Collier that they lied to police. She also said people were pressured by police to give false testimony.
Previous Stories:
- October 27, 2009: Man On Trial In Jaguars Player Shooting
- April 23, 2009: Hartsfield Jailhouse Calls Released
- April 1, 2009: Collier Shooting Trial Delayed, Again
- March 31, 2009: Richard Collier Shares Story With Other Crime Victims
- March 27, 2009: Collier Shooting Trial Delayed
- March 27, 2009: Richard Collier Thanks Blood Alliance Donors
- March 23, 2009: Trial Of Man Accused Of Shooting Jaguars Player May Be Delayed
- March 19, 2009: Man Faces March 30 Trial In Collier Shooting
- January 14, 2009: Man Accused Of Shooting Jags Player Wants Bond
- January 12, 2009: Ex-Public Defenders Hired To Defend Man Accused Of Shooting Richard Collier
- January 5, 2009: Interviews Gives Details Of Collier Shooting
- December 19, 2008: Collier Returns To Field As Honorary Jaguars Captain
- December 3, 2008: Richard Collier Speaks Out About Shooting
- November 10, 2008: Man Pleads Not Guilty In Jaguar's Shooting
- November 3, 2008: 20 Hospital Workers Fired for Viewing Collier's Medical Records
- October 23, 2008: Jaguars Back At Practice, Thinking Of Collier
- October 20, 2008: Police: Bar Fight Prompted Shooting Of Jaguars' Player
- October 20, 2008: Police Make Arrest In Jaguars' Player Shooting
- October 14, 2008: Rel Rio: Collier Out Of Hospital, Recovering
- October 1, 2008: Woman With Collier On Night Of Shooting Says She Is Tormented
- September 30, 2008: College Honors Collier By Wearing His Number On Helmet
- September 30, 2008: Surgeon: Collier Paralyzed, Loses Left Leg
- September 10, 2008: Woman With Collier On Night Of Shooting Speaks Out
- September 9, 2008: Teammates Add To Reward In Collier Shooting Case
- September 5, 2008: Report: Collier Making Gradual Improvement
- September 3, 2008: Jaguars Tackle Critical After Shooting

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