Emotional Testimony In 2011 Nicetown Bar Shooting Murder Trial
By Tony Hanson
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A Philadelphia jury today saw chilling video in the trial of a man charged with killing one person and wounding five others after he was thrown out of a Nicetown bar in June 2011 (see related story).
The 47-year-old defendant, Wayne James, is representing himself at trial.
The jury has repeatedly seen surveillance video captured by several cameras, which the prosecution alleges shows James being ejected from the Genesis bar, then returning and, pointing his gun into the front door, opening fire.
The video shows patrons in the crowded bar dropping as they are shot, as others scramble for their lives (another related story).
Curtis Aikens, a bouncer at the bar, has identified James as the gunman. He testified that he felt one bullet pass right by his head.
And during a tense exchange, Aikens, his voice rising, testified that his life is "in a scramble" because of this: his wife is divorcing him and he doesn't have his kids. And, his voice choked with emotion, Aikens screamed at James, "It destroyed my life! It destroyed my life!"
James has challenged the witness identifications, and also disputes whether the man identified as him in the video was holding a gun.