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Man says he took charges to trial to waste county time, money

Dwayne Jaleel Hall is led into the Lycoming County Courthouse for his May trial for allegedly shooting Irahmeen Mills on Sept. 6, 2015. KAREN VIBERT-KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Dwayne Jaleel Hall is led into the Lycoming County Courthouse for his May trial for allegedly shooting Irahmeen Mills on Sept. 6, 2015. KAREN VIBERT-KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Dwayne Jaleel Hall’s second criminal trial in Lycoming County Court within the span of a month was a ploy to have resources wasted on a clear-cut case, according to testimony from his trial Monday.

“They can pick (the jury) without me … I don’t need to be here. I know I’m guilty. I’m just trying to be an (expletive),” Hall allegedly told a sheriff’s deputy during jury selection earlier this month.

The jury trial was a quickly moving, single-day affair, but it marked the second time Hall has been on trial this year — the first in late May for allegedly shooting and killing Irahmeen Mills outside of a West Fourth Street bar in September of 2015.

The weeklong trial in late May ended in a hung jury on the homicide and assault charges, forcing a judge to declare a mistrial.

He will be retried in September, according to court records.

At Monday’s trial, a jury had to decide on charges of simple assault and disorderly conduct for Hall’s involvement in a bar fight at the former Ann’s Tavern, 503 Rose St., on July 4, 2015.

It found him guilty of both after a very short period of deliberation.

The fight was recorded from multiple angles within the bar that early morning.

Hall can be identified with Gary Coleman and Jordan Crawford, who also was with Hall the night of the shooting two months later.

Coleman can be seen walking behind Jason Allen as Allen stands waiting to shoot at the pool table.

Coleman then slams a thick beer mug across the right side of Allen’s head and a group rapidly converges on them as the rest of the patrons run out in hectic confusion.

Fists, feet, chairs and poolsticks were used in the group fight.

Joshua King was in the bar with Allen and was personally confronted by Hall, he said.

Before the explosive fight broke out, King can be seen walking over and talking into Allen’s ear.

“I saw them (Coleman and Allen) talking and saw it escalate by their body language,” King said. “I went over and told him (Allen) to go back to playing pool … they both waved each other off and I thought that was that.”

After the shattering mug started the fight, Hall blocked King from getting to Allen — who was on the ground being beaten, King said.

Hall can be seen punching King even after the fight sweeps outside and the two are left alone in the bar.

Hall took the stand as the only defense witness to explain what happened.

“Before the fight, I was paying attention to what was going on because it involved people that I knew,” Hall said. “I seen Josh King come over … I hit him. It was his people and my people. I wasn’t trying to hurt anyone, really. But just guarding myself and them.”

When Assistant District Attorney Nicole M. Ippolito asked him why he continued to punch King once the fight moved outside, Hall said he saw King reach in his pocket for something and was acting in self-defense.

“His hands were in the air,” Ippolito said. “Both of his hands were in the air when you can be seen punching him.”

Coleman was sentenced to serve a minimum of 92 months in state prison in December for being the catalyst of the fight.

Crawford pleaded guilty to simple assault and was sentenced to serve 30 days to 12 months in county prison, according to court records.

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