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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Seven weeks ago, a Staten Island jury convicted a Wu-Tang Clan affiliate of criminal weapon possession stemming from a shooting incident in the fall of 2013 in Concord.
But in an impassioned plea, Jeryl Grant insisted at his sentencing on Tuesday that jurors got it wrong.
"I was, in fact, the victim in this case. What you see in the video (of the incident) is me picking up the gun that man put to my head," Grant told Justice William E. Garnett, referring to Darnell Brown, whom he was accused of shooting and wounding.
"It's killing me inside," continued Grant. "I'm facing the rest of my life in jail and this man is running around doing the same thing. I feel there is no justice in this system. I appreciate leniency in any way you think (appropriate). This is my life in front of you."
Garnett, who sentenced Grant to 16 years to life as a persistent felony offender, said he had "no doubt" after looking at the surveillance videotape that the defendant illegally possessed a gun on Nov. 16, 2013.
Grant, 39, has prior convictions for criminal weapon possession and attempted criminal weapon. The sentence was the minimum he could receive as a persistent felony offender.
In late March, Grant was found guilty of second-degree criminal weapon possession, but acquitted of attempted murder in connection with the shooting and wounding of Brown outside El Pollo restaurant at 560 Richmond Rd.
The panel deadlocked on a charge of first-degree assault. Prosecutors had that count dismissed on Tuesday, citing the victim's lack of cooperation.
In her closing argument during the trial, Assistant District Attorney Natalie Barros told jurors that Grant "intentionally tried to kill" Brown, then 33, and succeeded in wounding the victim six times.
Brown survived.
Ms. Barros, who prosecuted the case along with Assistant District Attorney Kyle Reeves, said videotape surveillance at the location showed Grant holding an object in his right hand and extend his arm toward Brown in a manner "consistent" with firing a gun.
Brown attempted to return fire, but his gun jammed.
Neither Grant, a St. George resident, nor Brown testified.
In his closing argument, defense lawyer Mario F. Gallucci maintained Brown was the aggressor and his client didn't have a gun.
Brown, he said, accosted Grant as the defendant turned on to Richmond Road from Mary Street and pointed a gun at his head.
Grant grabbed one of Brown's friends who was standing nearby and fell to the ground and Brown dropped the gun, he said.
Gallucci told jurors that Grant picked up Brown's gun, ran around the corner, put the weapon in his pants pocket and drove off.
Gallucci repeated that refrain on Tuesday, telling Garnett he believes Grant acted in self-defense.
"He had a gun to his head," said Gallucci. "I truly feel he's a good person."
Garnett told Grant that Gallucci "did a wonderful job" representing him, but jurors concluded, as did he in watching the videotape, that the defendant possessed a gun.
Grant has served two stints in state prison, according to public records - a three-year sentence for a 2003 weapon-possession conviction, and a four-year sentence for a 2007 attempted-weapon possession conviction.
He has contributed to several albums by the borough's globally known Wu-Tang Clan, and his track, "The Archer," can be heard on the soundtrack of the 2012 film, "The Man with the Iron Fists." He's considered a key member of the Wu-Tang affiliated Killarmy.
http://www.silive.com/eastshore/index.ssf/2015/05/wu_tang_clan_associate_gets_16.html
