Brandon Threet Trial

Williamson County DA John Bradley's Closing Statements:

The following excerpt of Williamson County Prosecutor, Mr Bradley's closing statements was taken from the court proceedings given on July 19^th 2002 in the District Court of Williamson County, Texas 368^th Judicial District for trial court cause number: 01-1096-K368, Threet vs State of Texas, Trial of Merits volume 8 of 10.

Closing Statement -- Part 1

July 19^th 2002, Williamson County District Attorney, John Bradley, repeatedly said in court that on the night of October 6, 2001:

It was not a fight. How many times have you heard Brandon Threet throughout this trial or his friendly witnesses talk about a fight? Yet when Brandon finally testified and was asked the question as to what "fight" really is, even he couldn't lie about that. He had to admit that this was not a fight. There was nothing fair about it. There was no exchange of anything in a fair way.

This was an ambush. It was an ambush that started far earlier than the bit of videotape that you saw. It was an ambush that was not an accident. It was not something we could not have predicted. It was not something that we could not have seen coming earlier in the evening if we'd been there. I certainly hope that you won't hear this called a fight again.

... 

He admitted that he caused the death of Terence McArdle. He admitted he did it with his hands and feet. And look at what the word, "knowingly," is defined as. All it requires is that the defendant was aware that his conduct is reasonably certain to cause the result.

...

What did Terence (Brandon Threet) say he thought was going to happen?  "Oh, I thought he'd get a bloody nose or a concussion." A concussion, really? What's a concussion? We all know what a concussion is. It's an injury to the brain such that you're unconscious. And sometimes people don't recover from concussions. That's a very serious injury. He acknowledged that he knew that that was something that could happen. But what do you think he's intending as that foot is going there?

...

But you know what? You don't have to believe the defendant. You don't have to accept his word over the mountain of evidence that  shows he knew. And perhaps the saddest part of this trial is BrandonThreet's unwillingness to this day to accept responsibility and admit what he did. He is still playing games with that night.

...

Brandon Threet saw someone laying on the ground  incapable of hurting him, and he made a decision to take three steps and kick him in the head with the force of a thump that you hear. Now, that's not manslaughter. That's not criminally negligent homicide. That's not an accident.

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"I've never been in a fight. Let me say some more self-serving things. I've never been in a fight. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I do now remember, now that my lawyer tells me, that I cold-cocked Jerry Gardner in the face merely because someone accidentally hit me. By the way, I cold-cocked the wrong person. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I do like to, you know, trade licks. That's kind of cool," the point where we have to wonder whether he had some kind of a fight club going. We hear for the first time, "I thought Terence was going to get up and attack me." Well, shame on him for saying that. There's not a person in this courtroom that believes that was true.

...

Then he talks about how Terence never refused to exchange punches. No. Terence wanted to do this. This is great. It was going to be a fun thing. What did you finally hear? Terence said no three times. I don't want to do that. Terence had nine years of training in self-discipline that taught him to be humble in that situation and to decline any violence. I don't know why he went through with it, a lot of peer pressure, and he had been drinking a little bit. But Brandon took advantage of that to ambush Terence.

Closing Statement -- Part 2

And that's why you heard the testimony of Dr. Bedolla at Seton Northwest Hospital. The most striking thing that he said was the grayish-yellowish discoloration on Terence's skin and face. From what he knew, Terence was dead. He had arrived dead at Seton Northwest Hospital. There was no neurologic or cardiac activity. He was for all purposes dead. Dr. Bedolla did what he's supposed to do, and he worked with a young heart. He got it started again. Then he sent him off to Brackenridge for further treatment. But he did notice that there was bruising on the side of the face consistent with someone striking him.

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But when he got to Brackenridge Hospital, Dr. Dan Peterson was in no better position. And, you know, doctors go through that medical school, and they see all kinds of things. That's a neurosurgeon. He opens up people's brains on a daily basis, and he looks at them. He was choking up here. Having seen that videotape of how this happened and having spent a week with this family and having to describe that to you, a medical doctor was breaking down because he knew that this was -- this is not -- I'm tired of hearing the word "tragedy." Tragedies make sense. Tragedies we learn from. This is a vicious ambush. That's what it was. Let's call it that. And Dr. Peterson knew that's what it was. Despite all of his medical training and experience, he could see through that, and his emotions came forward. He couldn't  do anything. There was no treatment that he could try. He exceeded to the request of the family and brought in an acupuncturist. He considered some homeopathic medicine,considered a second opinion. But the truth was that it was just a matter of days before that young heart couldn't even continue.

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Then you heard from Dr. Vladimir Parungao who's the medical examiner. He had to actually look inside of that brain to make sure that the cause of death was what we thought it was. Nobody disagrees with that. He said that the brain was swollen and blackened with blood. You know, he had to take that young man's head and cut it across and across here and open it up and look at him. And that family had to wait for a funeral because Brandon Threet decided to ambush him and kill him.

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Remember Brandon's story is they just sort of agreed to trade punches. And I asked him. I tried to do this as clearly as I could so you would remember it now. "Didn't Terence say he didn't want to do that? Didn't Terence say no? Didn't Terence turn you down?" No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. "Now, are you saying you don't remember, or it didn't happen?" "It did not happen." Why is John Stroder going to make that up? He saw it. He repeated it here in the courtroom. Three times Terence said, "No, I don't want to exchange punches." And Brandon kept at him. This is after he's called him a faggot for having a flip. It's after he's pushed him to the ground and grabbed the goggles away from him. So this is a third incident where he is trying to goad Terence into the ambush. And you can hear it. How do you think Terence felt? Sometimes people say things, and they don't realize it. What did he say to Pete Hughey on the phone call?

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What is Terence saying at the beginning of that? "Don't break my ribs." Terence knows something is going to happen here. Who knows better what's about to happen, Terence or Brandon? Terence is loose. His arms are down. He's smiling. Brandon is like this. You just look at that. Why is he like that? Because he's mad. He's got a target, and he's got a plan. He's about to ambush this kid.

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And then you've got Brett Midgley saying, "Man, we're videotaping this shit." Yeah. "This shit" means something cool, something important. Something neat is about to happen. How does he know that?

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What is the next thing -- before Brandon has thrown a punch, what's the next thing Brett Midgley says? Brandon is pissed. Was Brandon pissed before he started this? Maybe they see that, and they knew it. How does Brett Midgley in a flash know that Brandon is pissed before he has thrown a punch? Because there's a plan. There is an ambush going on here. And this is the first part of the ambush. God bless Terence. He's still smiling. That's the last smile he had. But he trusted Brandon up to that second.

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Now, James Debrow, I didn't hear the defense mention a word to try to explain anything about James Debrow's testimony. That man was unimpeachable. He is an expert in use of force. He has watched videotapes and has made judgment calls against or for police officers about whether they appropriately used force and what state of mind they had when they were doing it. 

It was a massive use of force here. It was done deliberately. It was done with the knowledge that it would inflict serious bodily injury and likely death.

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(State's Exhibit No. 18, an audiotape, was played in open court. The intelligible portions are as follows:)

PETE HUGHEY: You kicked him?
BRANDON THREET: Yes, sir.
PETE HUGHEY: Where did you kick him at?
BRANDON THREET: I'm pretty sure I kicked him like in his side of his head.
PETE HUGHEY: In the side of the head?

...

BRANDON THREET: Yes, sir.
PETE HUGHEY: You kicked him?
BRANDON THREET: Yes, sir.
PETE HUGHEY: Where did you kick him at?
BRANDON THREET: I'm pretty sure I kicked him like in his side of his head.
PETE HUGHEY: In the side of the head?

PETE HUGHEY: So did you kick him pretty hard?
BRANDON THREET: Yeah, I imagine. I was -- I was pretty angry.

...

BRANDON THREET: Like when he hit me and then I hit him back, I don't know. I just got angry all of a sudden. And then after that, then I was calm. I didn't -- I wasn't angry or anything after I kicked him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, dude, don't like break my ribs, all right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're videotaping this shit. Oh, God. Brandon's pissed.

Read the full closing statement transcript here...

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