Testimony in shooting trial begins

WILKES-BARRE – Woodlands Inn & Resort security officer Charles Balogh said he heard Ian Bradley Corbin admit to shooting Robert Roberts Jr. last year.

Leonard Galli, head of security at the business, testified Roberts wasn’t the one involved in an earlier fight at the Woodlands that sparked the April 7, 2007, shooting in the Plains Township parking lot. Roberts, according to Galli, was mistaken for someone else when he was shot.

Both testified on the first day of a jury trial for Corbin, 25, who is charged with aggravated assault and illegal possession of a firearm.

Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas Judge Peter Paul Olszewski Jr. said he expects the jury to begin deliberation this afternoon.

Police said Corbin fired multiple shots, hitting Roberts in the shoulder and nearly hitting Stephen Hurst, while endangering Desiree Antonitis. Hurst is a friend of Roberts; Antonitis is Roberts’ fianc�e.

Luzerne County Assistant District Attorney David Pedri told the jury that Roberts, 31, now a firefighter in Washington, D.C., was not the man involved in an early scuffle in the entrance way of the club.

Pedri said Corbin shot Roberts, mistaking him for another man he had fought with earlier that day.

Balogh, a Luzerne County detective, and Galli, an Exeter police officer, testified Corbin was asked to leave the club. Corbin said, “I’ll be back,” according to their testimony.

A short time later, Balogh said, he heard three gun shots in the upper parking lot of the inn, and saw a woman, identified as Antonitis, running and screaming that someone had been shot.

“I called 911 and told them what happened. That a guy was shooting at us. And then I helped Bob,” Hurst said. They wrestled Corbin to the ground and tried to get the gun from him before being assisted by club security, Hurst testified.

But that’s not how it happened, said Corbin’s attorney, Christopher O’Donnell. He said Roberts was shot during the scuffle and noted there was no blood stain on Roberts’ Jeep where he said he was shot.

O’Donnell urged the jury to see if the physical evidence matches the story prosecutors are telling.

“Roberts sees (Corbin) with the gun. That’s when the scuffle happens. That’s when the gun went off,” O’Donnell said. “(Corbin) endured racial taunts, was jumped in a hallway at the club, and instead of Woodlands security helping him, they threw him out.”

Roberts, Hurst and Antonitis arrived at the club around 11:30 p.m., Roberts testified, and spent most of their time listening to a band before they left the building just after 2 a.m. When they arrived, Roberts testified, they had seen a black man, later identified as Corbin, being escorted from the club. No member of their group was involved in the altercation, Roberts said.

Roberts said he was helping Antonitis get into the car when he heard a shot. Roberts said he turned around and saw Corbin coming toward them with a .9mm gun pointed at them.

“(Corbin) said, ‘What’s up now?’ and fired two more shots – one in my arm,” Roberts said. That’s when he and Corbin began fighting, Roberts said. He said he tried to get the gun off Corbin, when it went off several more times.

Since the incident, Roberts said, he experiences pain daily, has trouble performing daily tasks and does not have “full function” of his right arm or hand.

Clear 33°

News

Incident at Woodlands in April 2007 wounded one man.

Place Quick Ads