Former NBA forward Bobby Simmons struggled to cooperate with prosecutors who brought him to the witness stand to account for a June 2006 robbery he fell victim to, in the racketeering trial against Chicago's Hobos street gang, last week. “It’s kinda hard,” Simmons is reported as saying before U.S. District Judge John J. Tharp. “I can’t remember everything that happened. It was so long ago.” In turn, he was called back to testify on Monday [October 3], only this time, the prosecution had a pair of federal agents who dug up his 2013 grand jury testimony on the incident, read his words aloud.
“I have identified this person as Paris Poe,” an agent read, as Simmons sat before six alleged Hobos leaders, two of which were the men arrested and tried in Simmons' case. The agent continued to share the details he reported about the robbery of a $200,000 white gold and diamond necklace he had been wearing, and the subsequent chase that ensued in the incident. The pursuit was a violent one that nearly turned deadly, with Poe and his alleged accomplice, firing off at least 15 shots to try to stave off Simmons and his two friends. The two assailants would eventually crash and hop out of their vehicle to take flight, with one being captured by Simmons, who federal authorities say exchanged blows with, then held the defendant until police came. According to his grand jury testimony, he had pointed the two alleged Hobos members out in a lineup.
The feds have had a hard time getting Simmons to contribute to the Hobos racketeering trial prosecution, since completing his trial. According to reports, it took significant effort for the FBI to subpoena him this time, and when he first took the stand, he went as far as claiming that he didn't recall ever having testified before a grand jury.
Source: chicago.suntimes.com
