Florida - Testimony Starts In Motorcycle Gang Murder Trial

OFF THE WIRE
wftv.com
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- A man, who prosecutors say wanted to join a biker gang, is now standing trial for an Orange County murder. Surveillance video shows the last moments of Chad Brickey's life, and investigators believe it was James Bedsole who pulled the trigger.
Prosecutors say the victim was killed for running over a motorcycle. It was Bedsole's duty to guard his barmates' motorcycles, so when the victim ran over a bike outside an Apopka bar prosecutors say it was all the motivation he needed to pursue and ultimately kill the victim.
Clean-shaven and wearing glasses, 40-year-old James Madison Bedsole didn't look much like an aspiring motorcycle gang member, but prosecutors say that's exactly what he was on September 12, 2009 when he shot and killed 29-year-old Chad Brickey.
"One of his jobs as a probate was to watch the bikes. When Chad Brickey ran over a bike in front of the bar, he was motivated," Assistant State Attorney Les Hess said in court.
Brickey ran over a motorcycle outside Sharkey's Pub in Apopka shortly before his death, and prosecutors believe Bedsole, who they called a probationary Warlock, had something to prove.
In his opening statement Tuesday, Hess told jurors Bedsole joined another man in pursuing Brickey. Surveillance cameras from a Mobil gas station captured part of what happened next.
Brickey was shot in the head, but defense attorney Jeff Dowdy told jurors what the surveillance cameras don't show is his client. The driver of the gold pick-up that pursued Brickey was later identified as Holguy Louissaint; he's expected to be a star witness for the prosecution.
"Mr. Louissaint lied on several occasions and he will have to admit he lied," Dowdy said.
Louissaint, who worked as a security guard, didn't call police after the shooting, and the defense told jurors, currently, Louissaint isn't facing any charges in the case.
"When you add up all the evidence, clearly there's reasonable doubt in this case," Dowdy said.
The motorcycle that Brickey ran over that set off this chain of events didn't even belong to a Warlock member.