On December 30, Newton native Caleb Gannon, charged with assault and battery, appeared before Newton District Court Judge Mary Beth Heffernan. Walking with the aid of a cane and accompanied by his parents, Rhonda and Joseph Gannon, he entered a plea of “not guilty.”
Unlike the earlier hearings on this case, there were no demonstrators outside the courthouse. Members of the pro-Palestine CD 4 Group, which has been holding bi-weekly demonstrations against U.S. support of Israel and the plight of people in Gaza, were in the courtroom to support the Gannons “at this difficult time,” according to Newton resident Jill Charney, a regular participant in the group. Many wore red, white, and green stickers saying “No Guns in Newton No Bombs in Palestine.”
Christopher Tarrant, the prosecutor, urged that Mr. Gannon be held on $5,000 bail and have limitations placed on his activities, including a curfew and GPS monitoring. In addition, he said that Mr. Gannon might have mental health and anger-management issues. According to Mr. Tarrant, Mr. Gannon engaged in an angry exchange with pro-Israel demonstrators and then charged across Washington Street and attacked Scott Hayes in the September 12 incident, when Hayes and several others were participating in the demonstration. Videos show Mr. Gannon charging Mr. Hayes and both falling to the ground. The video captures the sound of a gun being fired, and bullets hit Mr. Gannon in the abdomen.
Mr. Gannon’s attorney, Stephen Colella, told the court that Mr. Gannon was in the hospital for 38 days and suffered life-altering injuries. Moreover, according to Mr. Colella, his client had no weapon and no prior criminal record, and lives in Newton, less than three miles from the courthouse. He emphasized that if Mr. Gannon violated conditions of his parole, he would be subject to penalties including imprisonment. Judge Heffernan lost no time in agreeing with the defense that Mr. Gannon should be released on his own recognizance and he should keep away from Mr. Hayes, or there would be new charges filed against him. The next court appearance is scheduled for February 3. Mr. Gannon’s father, an attorney, felt “the matter had been handled appropriately.”
Mr. Hayes, a Framingham resident, who suffered face and neck injuries in the incident, was briefly transported to Newton Wellesley Hospital after the incident, according to the Newton Police report of the event. He had been charged earlier in the month with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and had also entered a plea of “not guilty.”
Among the complexities of these two cases is that Mr. Gannon is both an alleged assailant and victim. While Mr. Gannon and Mr. Hayes have each pleaded not guilty, Mr. Hayes claims that he shot Mr. Gannon in self-defense. Attorney Peter Elikann, a criminal defense attorney and former head of the Massachusetts Bar Association Criminal Justice Panel, explained to Fig City News after the hearing that under Massachusetts law, people may fire their guns only if they feel they will be killed or seriously injured. “People have the duty to retreat if they can,” he said. The determination will depend “on the totality of the circumstances,” according to Mr. Elikann, who noted that Massachusetts gun laws differ from those in states that have “no duty to retreat” laws.
Jill Charney, who is Jewish and a leader in the CD 4 group, told assembled media after the hearing that many in her group are Jewish and that there are Jewish people in Newton who do not support Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians in Gaza. Among the pro-Palestine members at the hearing were people from Newton, Brookline, and Needham. She said that Mr. Hayes and the people who have appeared at pro-Israel demonstrations with him try to engage the pro-Palestinian group, but the CD4 group does not respond to them. She told Fig City News that Caleb Gannon has not been affiliated in any way with her group, adding that if he had, he would not have engaged in the verbal exchange of September 12.
