Road-rage turned deadly or self-defense? What happened in court in Brockton murder case
BROCKTON — Rosemary Scapicchio gripped Jennifer Landry's knife, raised it over her head and pointed it at the jury. The striking visual aimed to drive home the argument that her client, Jacqueline Avelino Mendes, slashed Landry's neck in self defense during a road-rage fueled street fight.
"It's a half-second to decide, 'How do I save my life?'" the veteran defense attorney said Wednesday in a dramatic closing statement in Brockton Superior Court.
Prosecutor Amanda Fowle, also an experienced hand at closing arguments, countered that jurors had to look at the whole picture.
"It's a lot more than half a second," Fowle said. "Both people got out of their cars with knives. One of them is dead."
Very different versions of events
Jurors begin deliberations on Thursday morning. They'll have to decide which story the evidence supports.
Is it the defense's contention that Mendes had no choice but to use lethal force to survive the June 28, 2019, encounter that ended with Landry bleeding out at the intersection of Belmont and Grafton Streets?
Or do they believe the Commonwealth's argument that Mendes spurned multiple chances to disengage instead of "joining a knife fight," as Fowle put it?
Mendes, of Fall River, was 32 when she sliced open the jugular vein and carotid artery of Landry, a 41-year-old Brockton woman. Investigators never found the black-and-gold folding knife that Mendes said she threw into nearby bushes before driving away from the mortally wounded Landry. Mendes drove to the police station, where she waived her right to remain silent and gave cops a detailed statement. When she spoke to police, according to trial testimony, she didn't know that Landry had died.
'Egregious and unacceptable' Judge lets Brockton murder charge stand despite 'appalling' lapses by prosecutor
10-second video captures final moments
Both sides used a 10-second video captured by a bystander to bolster their cases. It shows the final moments of the conflict between Mendes and Landry. Their dispute began on Leavitt Street when Landry, aiming to turn right from Hazel Street, was blocked by a box truck. Mendes was driving west on Leavitt and the two vehicles nearly collided, according to testimony from a driver who witnessed it.
Emily Hardman of Brockton was driving home that day and saw someone get out of Mendes' vehicle and confront Landry. Hardman testified to seeing the two sides honk and yell. She said Landry backed up on Hazel, took a left on Leavitt and a right on Grafton. Mendes followed.
Landry braked suddenly several times, Scapicchio said, in an effort to make Mendes rear end her. Both women got out of their cars and Grafton and Belmont, where their verbal argument spun out into fatal violence.
How violent is Brockton? We compared it to 8 other cities to get the real answer.
Did Landry have the blade out?
The two sides agree that Landry had a red folding knife. But they conflict on a key point: Did Landry have the blade out?
Prosecutors said Landry never opened the knife, which she'd retrieved from the glove compartment of her car. Investigators found it, shut and covered in blood, in the crosswalk.
"It closes, miracles of miracles, when it hits the ground," said Fowle.
Scapicchio said it doesn't matter if Landry actually had the knife at the moment Mendes stabbed her.
"Even if she's wrong, if it's reasonable, it's self-defense," Scapicchio said.
The picture Scapicchio painted at closing as she held the open blade high may have left jurors with an image that prosecutors argue never happened.
"What else would you do when someone comes at you with this knife?" Scapicchio told jurors as she took off the surgical glove she'd been using to hold the weapon. "She's guilty of nothing."
Defense calls no witnesses
Scapicchio called no witnesses and Mendes did not testify.
The Commonwealth charges Mendes with first-degree murder and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. If jurors convict, they may choose lesser charges of second-degree murder or voluntary manslaughter.
Previous prosecutor fails to turn over evidence
Mendes has been in jail awaiting trial since shortly after the killing. The case has already been marred by its initial prosecutor, the disgraced former Assistant District Attorney Richard F. Linehan. Judge Robert B. Gordon, who presided over the trial, reprimanded Linehan for failing to turn over key information to the defense until three days before the original trial date of Oct. 31, 2022. Gordon called Linehan's mistakes "egregious and unacceptable" in a December 2022 ruling, but he went on to conclude that they "do not rise to the level of deliberate misconduct." Gordon rejected a defense bid to throw out the case.
Send your news tips to reporter Chris Helms by email at CHelms@enterprisenews.com or connect on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @HelmsNews.
This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Brockton road rage murder defendant Jackie Mendes goes to trial
