Day 2: Dayton Base-Brawl Trial; Ryno Testifies

((HT: Dayton Daily News/Lou Grieco))

Former Chicago Cubs second baseman Ryne Sandberg, a member of the baseball hall of fame, took the witness stand Wednesday, July 22, as the first defense witness for Julio Castillo.

Sandberg was the manager of the Peoria Chiefs when Castillo hurled a ball into the stands at Fifth Third Field on July 24, 2008. The ball struck Christopher McCarthy, 45, of Middletown, in the left temple, causing a concussion.

Sandberg told defense attorney Dennis Lieberman that video and photographs of Castillo from that incident shows him making a regular throw, as opposed to a pitch with a full windup.

“It wouldn’t be his top velocity,” Sandberg said.

Castillo regularly pitches between 93 and 96 mph, Sandberg said.

Castillo would not be throwing at his full velocity, which has been measured from the mound at more than 90 mph, Sandberg said.

Castillo is on trial for two counts of felonious assault. Sandberg was not at that game because he was attending a hall of fame event at Cooperstown. He is now the manager of the Tennessee Smokies, a AA team in Knoxville.

Earlier Wednesday afternoon, assistant Montgomery County prosecutors rested their case. The trial is before Common Pleas Judge Connie S. Price. Since Castillo has waived his right to a jury trial, Price will decide whether prosecutors have proven their case beyond a reasonable doubt.

Sandberg's testimony can be seen here, thanks to our friends at WKEF-ABC22 in Dayton...

A man who met Julio Castillo in the Montgomery County Jail testified Wednesday, July 22, that Castillo told him that he threw a baseball toward the Dayton Dragons’ dugout because he was angry.

Eduardo Priego also told assistant county prosecutor Tracey Ballard Tangeman that Castillo said he threw the ball “at the Dragons players,” but the ball instead hit a spectator.

Castillo, a former pitcher with the Peoria Chiefs, is on trial this week for two counts of felonious assault. The charges are second-degree felonies, punishable by up to eight years in prison, though the charges would merge for sentencing purposes should he be convicted of both.

Prosecutors claim Castillo was acting with anger when he threw the ball that hit Christopher McCarthy, 45, of Middletown. McCarthy suffered a concussion. Castillo’s intent was to hurt a member of the Dragons, prosecutors said.

But defense attorney Dennis Lieberman told Common Pleas Judge Connie S. Price on Tuesday that Castillo did not intend to hurt anyone. As Dragons players, reacting to a brawl on the field, began to run out from the dugout, Castillo threw the ball toward netting in front of the dugout to keep them from joining the fight.

The reason, Lieberman said, is that Castillo, who is from the Dominican Republic, only speaks Spanish. Castillo threw to ball to communicate to the Dragons that they should stay back, since he could not communicate verbally, but the ball sailed over the dugout and hit the spectator, Lieberman said.

Priego, who was born in Mexico and is fluent in Spanish and English, was a trusty — an inmate with special privileges — at the jail on July 25, 2008, one day after the incident at Fifth Third Field. He told Tangeman that he spoke with Castillo because Castillo had no one else to talk to, since he didn’t speak English.

Castillo told Priego he was angry “at the Dragons team,” when he threw the ball, Priego testified.

During cross examination by Lieberman, Priego said that he first met Castillo hours before that conversation, when he acted as an interpreter for him as a Dayton police detective read Castillo his rights.

Priego also told Lieberman that he had been facing deportation due to “moral turpitude” and that he did not alert anyone to his conversation with Castillo until months later.

On re-direct by Tangeman, Priego said that he didn’t tell anyone because “I thought everything had finished.”

When Tangeman asked him if Priego had requested Castillo’s autograph, Priego responded “I still have it.”

He also said he was concerned about Castillo going to prison.

“I don’t want to see him go to jail,” Priego told Tangeman