After a five-day trial and over six hours of jury deliberation, 20-year-old Bryan Grassie was convicted of second degree murder in Plymouth Superior Court on Monday, June 16. Grassie also received a concurrent sentence of 6-10 years after being found guilty of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon according to Plymouth County District Attorney's office.

Grassie, of 16 Bartlett Lane in East Wareham, was arrested in the early morning hours of July 29, 2012 after a being involved with a stabbing on Priscilla Avenue which sent brothers Brian and Brendan Mahoney of Bridgewater to the hospital. Brendan Mahoney later died from his wounds and Brian took the witness stand on Friday.

Mahoney, 21, showed the jury some of his stab wounds, of which he has six, the same amount his brother had. He said he heard his brother Brendan scream "he's got a knife," and heard him say he had been stabbed that night on Priscilla Avenue. But Brian said he didn't realize he had been stabbed until the two brothers and the other partygoers he was with got under the light of a nearby street lamp. Mahoney said he remembers the whole incident lasting a few seconds

Prosecutor for the Commonwealth, Assistant District Attorney Tara Cappola played a security video from a home on Priscilla Avenue showing Grassie going down the street saying "Come on dog follow me," then the two Mahoney brothers and others running from the scene after a physical altercation occurred off screen.

Some friends and family members in the courtroom turned away while the video was played.

According to witness testimony, Grassie, 18 at the time of the incident, showed up uninvited to a graduation party on Priscilla Avenue. Grassie exhibited belligerent behavior towards the guests as soon as he arrived, according to witness testimony.

After heated conversations with many guests at the party, in which Grassie allegedly said things such as, "I'll fight anybody," and "I'm not leaving until they come outside and fight me," Grassie was coerced outside by a friend. After some time outside, the two Mahoney brothers came outside and everyone involved moved down the street.

According to Mahoney and other witnesses, Brian Mahoney pushed Grassie against a chain link fence and Brendan Mahoney tackled Grassie and began fighting him as they didn't think any weapons were involved.

Grassie's attorney, Thomas Drechsler, asked Mahoney, "You were going to continue to beat him up because of what he said, isn't that right?" and Mahoney responded, "Yeah, I guess so."

In his closing argument, Drechsler said, "but for the Mahoney brothers running after [Grassie] and chasing him down, this stabbing doesn't happen."

Cappola argued that Grassie had purposefully created the environment of a fight throughout that night.

"This is not self-defense, this is not manslaughter. This is first degree murder," she said.

The case was investigated by Trooper Donald Short of the Massachusetts State Police and Michael Smith of the Wareham Police. The case was tried in front of Superior Court Judge Gaziano.