By Phyllis J. Silva
Enterprise Staff Writer
(1993) BROCKTON – Brockton Superior Court jurors on Tuesday heard a graphic account of the shooting of a 23-year-old city man two years ago.
Three men are being tried under the theory of joint venture in conjunction with the shooting of Jean Jusme outside the Court Street Market on May 17, 1993.
Jusme was shot three times and a bullet remains lodged in his back.
On trial and charged with armed assault to rob and assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon are Monsalvey Charles, 23, and Frantzy E. Therilius Jr., 24, both of Brockton, and Dieudel Charles, 20 of Dorchester, also known as Charles Dieudel.
Monsalvey Charles is also charged with armed robbery. He is accused of robbing Jusme during a separate incident at the Westgate Mall three hours before the shooting.
The jury trial had been scheduled to begin on Monday but was delayed for a day when Dieudel Charles was arrested at the courthouse after he caused a disturbance in the hallway. He was charged with assaulting two police officers and making threats against Assistant District Attorney Jeanne Holmes who is prosecuting the case.
Under direct examination by the prosecutor on Tuesday, Jusme testified that he had gone to the Westgate Mall with his girlfriend and another woman. They arrived at the mall around 5 p.m.
Jusme went to a pay phone near the Dunkin Donuts entrance of the mall and made a phone call to someone named Joel while the two women went shopping.
While he was on the phone, a man he later identified as Monsalvey Charles, came up to him holding a long, sharp, pointed object in his right hand. He said the man grabbed his gold watch off his wrist and ran out of the mall.
Jusme spoke with a security guard about the robbery. He later left the mall and drove his girlfriend to the Court Street Market on the East Side so she could pick up a sub sandwich. It was now 8 p.m.
While his girlfriend went inside the market, Jusme said he stayed outside. Then he noticed a red jeep parked next to his car. It was the same Jeep he had seen at the mall earlier with three men inside. He told his girlfriend to call the cops.
Jusme then saw Monsalvey Charles standing two or three feet away, with a short, black gun in his hand. Jusme said the trigger was pointed at him.
Monsalvey Charles asked Jusme for the gold chain that was around his neck but Jusme said he refused to give it to him.
“I’m not playing. Give it to me!” Monsalvey Charlies then yelled to Jusme, according to testimony.
Jusme then pointed to Dieudel Charles and Frantzy Therilus who were seated in the courtroom, as the other two men who were with Monsalvey Charles.
Monsalvey Chalres then passed the gun to Therilu, Jusme testified.
“I tried to walk away,” said the Haitian-born Jusme. “I heard the shot. I turned to my left. Dieudel Charles grabbed the gun, called me a name, and shot me!”
“I started to walk and then I fell,” said Jusme. The three men ran.
“I see blood all over me,” he continued, “My arm was lame.”
“What was your state of mind?” asked prosecutor Holmes.
“I thought I wasn’t going to make it,” he answered.
His girlfriend stood beside him crying, “Please help! Please help!” Jusme said.
“The police came and I couldn’t talk,” he continued.
Jusme said he was shot in the arm and in the back by a bullet.
“I still have it inside of me,” he said of the bullet. “It’s in my back.”
Jusme said he was hospitalized for a month after the shooting. he said he had ever seen and did not know Dieudel Charles prior to the shooting.
During cross examination by defense attorney James S. Murphy of Hingham, the attorney manager to point out some contradictory statements made by Jusme. Murphy represents Dieudel Charles.
Jusme’s questioning was hampered by the fact that he is very hard of hearing and lawyers had to shout questions to him. He also speaks English with a slight accent, making his pronunciation of some words difficult to understand.
Murphy referred to Jusme’s prior testimony at a probable cause hearing in Brockton District Court on August 24, 1993 during which he testified that a third woman named Nicky had also accompanied him to the mall on the day of the robbery. he denied that on Tuesday although he admitted knowing someone named Nicky.
During the probably cause hearing, Jusme gave the name of someone else when he allegedly made a call from the pay phone at the mall.
Jusme testified on Tuesday threat there were no people around when he was robbed at the pay phone but at the probably cause hearing he said there were other people there. Murphy referred to a transcription of the probable cause hearing when question Jusme on Tuesday.
Defense attorney Gerald J. Noonan of Brockton, who represented Therilus, and public defender Martin Richey who represented Monsalvey Charles were scheduled to cross exam Jusme today.