re: Anyone know what happened to Garrett Ward?

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Baton Rouge man accused of fatally beating older New Orleanian feared for his life, he testified

When Baton Rouge resident Garrett Ward punched and kicked a 60-year-old man on St. Charles Avenue, it was a knee-jerk reaction to having been robbed months before, Ward said Monday. Ward, 29, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Arnold Jackson, who died two weeks after Ward beat him on Jan. 6, 2018, on the sidewalk outside the Pontchartrain Hotel.

Ward's trial began May 2, and continued Monday, with Ward taking the stand in his own defense. Ward admitted to punching and kicking Jackson but said he did so in a drunken haze, convinced that he was being robbed for the second time in several months on the streets of New Orleans. On Sept. 2, 2017, Ward was robbed of his boots at knifepoint in the Irish Channel, he testified. An ambulance picked him up and took him to a hospital, he said, where he learned his jaw was fractured and head concussed.

Months later — heading into the wee hours of Jan. 6, after drinking bourbon, red wine, beer and a shot of Jägermeister — Ward said he fell asleep on the sidewalk outside the hotel, and awoke to a hooded figure reaching into the pocket of his peacoat. As he held his arms up in a protective gesture, Ward said, something sharp poked his left palm. He reacted instinctively. “I thought my life was in danger,” Ward told the jurors. “I didn’t want to be a victim again.” Ward punched and kicked Jackson, he testified, saying he was “terrified” as he swung his fists. “He (Jackson) is still grabbing me and in my space, so I kick him one time,” Ward described.

Prosecutors didn't buy his story. Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams, arguing the case personally, asked Ward multiple times if he ever told police that Jackson had reached into his pocket or cut him, and each time, Ward said he had not. Williams asked to see Ward’s hands, and the defendant held them palm up as he sat on the witness stand. “There’s not a single scar on the palms of your hands, is there?” Williams asked. “Not today,” Ward replied.

Later, Ward’s defense attorneys showed the jury a photo that Ward said had been taken on his phone nearly a month after the beating. The photo showed a fading red mark on Ward’s left palm. Prosecutors had earlier in the day poked holes in the idea that Ward had been cut by Jackson. They showed a picture of the older man after he had been beaten, in which a pocket knife could be seen holstered to his waistband. They said Jackson could not have wielded the knife and sliced Ward’s hand only to holster it while he was being punched and kicked by Ward. Williams also said there was no evidence Jackson had ever worn a hoodie that night. But it was another article of clothing that became a key point of contention between Williams and Ward: Ward’s peacoat. Multiple witnesses to the beating testified that Ward had removed the jacket before hitting Jackson. “If you were going to get involved in something nasty, in fisticuffs, would you take your jacket off?” Williams asked. Ward denied ever removing the coat.

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