Clifton Blackwell takes stand in acid attack trial, claims he acted in self defense

The man charged with splashing acid at a Hispanic man testified Tuesday he did so to prevent an imminent attack and denied telling the victim to "go back to your country."

Clifton Blackwell, 64, faces a count of first-degree reckless injury, with a dangerous weapon, as a hate crime. It stems from an encounter with Mahud Villalaz, 43, outside a Mexican restaurant at South 13th Street and Cleveland Avenue in 2019.

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Villalaz testified Blackwell pointed out he had parked illegally in a bus stop zone, and that Blackwell added comments such as, "Why don't you obey the laws in my country?"

In his opening statement, Blackwell's attorney said his client threw the acid in self-defense as an angry Villalaz was about to strike him. At the end of the state's case, Judge Jean Kies ruled there hadn't been enough evidence to support a jury instruction on self-defense.

After private discussion with his attorney, Blackwell decided to testify late Tuesday, to provide enough basis for his beliefs, and a jury instruction on self-defense.

He said he told Villalaz he was parked illegally because he feared the bus he was waiting for might not see him because of the truck. He denied making any assumption based on Villalaz's skin color, though he did say he thought he could be an immigrant based on his strong Spanish accent.

Blackwell admitted asking why Villalaz didn't' follow the laws of "my country" and "this country." He said he meant it as a verbal "jab" back at Villalaz because he seemed aggrieved about Blackwell pointing out the illegal parking.

Villalaz immigrated from Peru more than 20 years ago and is now a U.S. citizen. He testified Blackwell's comments made him angry, but denied he even pretended to start to punch him, and only "flinched" toward him before Blackwell splashed the acid.

Villalaz testified Monday he sensed right away Blackwell might be trouble. "Your body tells you something, your senses, that something's wrong with that guy."

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Dressed in a dark suit, gray shirt and dark tie, Blackwell spoke in a low, gruff voice with a measured delivery. He testified he is disabled and has been attacked in the past. He said he carries the drain cleaner if he goes out at night for self defense.

He said he is certain Villalaz would have struck him if hadn't been "a little bit quicker" and splashed him with the acidic liquid first when he called Blackwell a "racist (expletive)," balled his fist and took an attack stance.

Blackwell testified he was happy Villalaz finally agreed to move his truck, and was purposely standing farther away when Villalaz again walked toward the restaurant. He testified Villalaz approached him and spoke the first words of the second conversation.

"He came up to me and started quarreling at me," Blackwell said. "I said 'Leave me alone.' That seemed to provoke him a great deal more."

He said he just wanted to get home on the bus with groceries he'd just bought at Aldi grocery store, across the street. After the incident, he said, he walked about a half mile west to a different bus stop because he feared Villalaz, or others, might come for revenge. He admitted he was also concerned about the police.

Last week, Kies denied the state's attempts to use Blackwell's past writings as "other acts evidence" to show a racist motive for the attack. Kies found the writings too old, irrelevant or too prejudicial to the 2019 incident.

Once Blackwell decided to testify, Kies said a three writings could be used if he tried to say he was not racist towards Hispanics. To get ahead of that, his own lawyer asked him about the writings Tuesday.

In one, he described a grocery store manager as "a psycho runt fat Mexican" and wrote in another letter "Negroes and Mexicans know they can rob and assault people with impunity inside their areas."

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The material came from Blackwell's computer. Bellows said some looked like journal entries of the defendant's day to day observations and thoughts -- which included too many racist commentaries to list in the motion, she said.

There was also a 2019 letter to President Donald Trump, in which Blackwell talks about certain minorities using their own spellings and wordings, and wondering how many in the apartments were "defectives."

"None of them have any business being in my country. They are parasites on the public purse," he wrote. "I guarantee one will be a criminal predator, a destructor upon reaching puberty."

Other entries and letters use several other slurs for minorities and Jews. Bellows argued the writings show an "ongoing, innate thought process of hating non-whites." In the end, the jury heard very little of the material.

Jurors saw body camera video from a responding officer that shows Villalaz dealing with the pain on his face, and describing the encounter to the officer.

A retired detective explained how someone notice on surveillance video the suspect had Aldi bags. A review of video at the store across the street showed the same man checking out minutes before the confrontation, and a store security guard said he knew the man lived near him and took the same bus. That led police to find Blackwell and search his apartment.

Inside, they found several containers with various chemicals, including sulfuric acid, which the state crime lab concluded could have left the residue found on Villalaz's damaged jacket and fleece.

On Monday, jurors heard Villalaz describe the burns form the acid, his two days in the hospital and follow up treatments.

The jury is scheduled to begin deliberating Wednesday.

Contact Bruce Vielmetti at (414) 224-2187 or bvielmetti@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ProofHearsay.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Acid attack hate crime defendant testifies he feared attack