Man shot in Pleasant Grove testifies in own defence

A man who was shot in the hand, abdomen and neck on Christmas Day in 2015 said he thought the shooter was going to kill him.

Brodie Joseph McQuaid took the stand in P.E.I. Supreme Court Monday for the continuation of his trial with co-accused Matthew Lindsey Clarke. Clarke and McQuaid were charged with break and enter and assault after Matthew Brian Misener shot them in his home in Pleasant Grove. Misener, who knew the two men, was sentenced in February to one year in jail for assault with a weapon, careless storage of a firearm and possessing a firearm without a licence.

McQuaid testified that before the shooting he saw Misener inside the house holding the gun and yelling that he was going to start pulling the trigger.

“I’ve never seen him really like that,” McQuaid said.

During the trial, the court heard McQuaid and Clarke went to Misener’s house in the early hours of Christmas Day 2015.

The visit was in response to one of Misener’s friends having a sexual relationship with a friend of Clarke and McQuaid. McQuaid testified the two accused went to the house after Misener made an angry phone call to Clarke about the situation.

Misener told them to go to his house to settle it “like men,” McQuaid said.

When asked what he thought Misener meant by that, McQuaid said he took it to mean a face-to-face meeting. McQuaid testified he knocked on the door and went inside the house without anyone answering, as he had done numerous times before when visiting Misener who he had considered a friend. The court heard that once he was inside, McQuaid took off his rubber boots as a courtesy.

McQuaid said he saw Misener come out of a bedroom with a .22-calibre rifle.

When he approached Misener to try calming him down and to get the gun away from him, Misener pulled the trigger, McQuaid said.

He testified the first shot hit him in the hand, which later required surgery to transfer a tendon and remove pieces of the bullet.

McQuaid said he felt a warm feeling and saw blood after Misener shot him in the abdomen.

He thought Misener was going to kill him, McQuaid said. The two then scuffled and McQuaid said he pushed Misener over a couch as he tried to wrestle the gun away. McQuaid said he was looking down the gun’s barrel after Misener lifted the rifle so he turned his head before a third shot him in the neck.

After that he couldn’t move, but he could hear people yelling and remembered Misener putting pressure on his neck and apologizing, McQuaid said. Under cross-examination, McQuaid said he knew Misener was upset and angry before the two men went to his house. “Just because someone’s angry doesn’t mean they’re gonna fight,” he said.

McQuaid testified that in his mind Misener invited the two accused to his house to settle things.

“I’ve never had an unfriendly visit with him,” McQuaid said. Lawyers for both of the accused men closed their cases Monday without Clarke testifying. The trial resumes Wednesday with closing arguments from the defence and Crown.