Bouncer sentenced to 35 years for beating Moses Malone Jr.
Harris County TX Dec 10 2017 A bouncer at an after-hours club was sentenced late Thursday to 35 years in prison for inciting the beating of Moses Malone Jr. last year because of a Facebook post about basketball star James Harden.
Darian Blount, 40, was convicted of aggravated robbery after confronting the son of NBA legend Moses Malone with a group of people outside V Live, a near-westside strip club that operated between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. V Live has since closed.
Harris County jurors earlier on Thursday convicted him of the first-degree felony. They then worked past 7 p.m. to determine punishment. He was
Because Malone’s jewelry was taken, and some people in the crowd had guns, prosecutors charged Blount with armed robbery. He was convicted under the state’s “law of parties,” which assigns everyone connected to crime with the same culpability. In other cases, prosecutors have used the law to charge getaway drivers or other conspirators with the same crime that a masked gunman would face.
The jury agreed that at least one handgun was involved in the crime, so he will have to serve at least half of his sentence before he is eligible for parole.
Malone arrived at the club in the 6200 block of Richmond about 2:30 a.m. on June 25, 2016, and was confronted outside by Blount and a crowd of people.
Testimony showed that Blount apparently told Malone he disrespected Harden and needed to be punished. He then shouted, “Get ’em!”
People in the crowd, some with handguns, began beating Malone and took his iPhone, and jewelry valued at $50,000, including diamond earrings that were ripped out of Malone’s ears.
He also lost two David Yurman pendant chains worth $20,000 each.
After the beating, Malone identified Blount, who was known as “Blunt” and two other men who were all arrested on a felony charge of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon. The cases against Kavon Boutte, 27, and Oscar Wattell, 26, are pending.
Blount’s attorney, Clint Davidson, argued that his client broke up the fight.
Prosecutors Britni Cooper and Lauren Reeder told jurors that Blount initiated the fight because he wanted to show basketball superstar Harden that he “had his back.”
Harden was a frequent visitor of the club, police testified, and stars like singer Rihanna, boxer Floyd Mayweather and rapper Wiz Khalifa had been spotted there. The night before the attack, the singer Drake was at the club, according to one witness.
Blount has a long criminal history beginning with arrests for marijuana in 1997. Since then, he has been arrested and pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana and cocaine in several cases.
Malone is the son of former Rockets center Moses Malone who was a three-time NBA MVP. The Hall of Famer died in September 2015.
chron
