A jury panel of seven women and five men began deliberations this morning in the trial of a Monroe County man charged with shooting a Carbon man in the face.

Brian James-Paul Hines, 36, of Brodheadsville, is facing charges of criminal attempt-homicide, two counts each of aggravated and simple assault and one count each of recklessly endangering another person and firearms not to be carried without a license.Hines is accused of shooting Gary Hoffner, 32, of Lower Towamensing Township, in the face during a confrontation near the victim's home along Lower Smithgap Road. The incident occurred on Nov. 9, 2009.Testimony and closing arguments in the case concluded about 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Hines never took the witness stand and defense Attorney Stephen Vlossak Sr. called no witnesses.Senior Judge John J. Rufe, of Bucks County and specially presiding, recessed until 9 a.m. today. He was to charge the jury on the law that applies to the case and the panel would then begin deliberations.Trooper testifiesTrooper Patrick Finn, of the criminal investigation unit at the Lehighton barracks, and the prosecuting officer in the case, was the first witness for Assistant District Attorney Joseph Matika on Tuesday morning as the trial resumed. The jury panel was picked on Monday morning and the trial started in the afternoon.Finn told the panel Hines gave two statements to him concerning the incident, the first saying Hoffner had the gun and it went off accidentally during a struggle, and the second admitting he had the gun and fired the shot striking Hoffner in the face. On Monday the testimony indicated the bullet entered the right nostril of Hoffner. The bullet and fragments remain in his head. He underwent surgery at the Lehigh Valley Hospital, Salisbury Township.Finn also played a taped of the two statements given by Hines and read the written statements Hines provided.In the first statement Hines said he went to Hoffner's residence because he thought the victim had stolen a space heater from his trailer home. He said he drove by Hoffner's home but didn't think he was home. He told the trooper he then pulled off the road to turn around when suddenly he saw Hoffner coming down the road at a high rate of speed in his pickup truck.Hines said Hoffner pulled next to his car with the driver side doors of the vehicles facing each other. There was some dispute between witnesses of whether the truck was blocking the path of the car or if the two vehicles were just "side by side."Hines, who also alleged in his statement that Hoffner had been stealing from him for years, said he had his girlfriend, Anna Winger, with him and Jason Boyle, who was identified as Hoffner's girlfriend's son, was with the victim.He said all four were arguing. He said Winger and Boyle both exited their vehicles and went to the front/back of the vehicles and continued to argue.He said at this point Hoffner exiting his truck holding a handgun. Hines said in the taped statement, "I just grabbed the damn gun." He said he tried to get the gun out of Hoffner's hand and it went off striking Hoffner in the face.Finn said after Hines gave the statement he continued his investigation. Hines, he said, were read his rights and was told he was in custody and would be charged.He said as the probe went on he spoke to Hines and told him physical evidence at the scene did not back up his story that Hoffner's truck was blocking his vehicle. Finn said he also questioned Hines about his description of how he grabbed the gun and it went off.When questioned about what happened to the gun, which Hines said had fallen into his car after the struggle, he told Finn he and Winger drove to Lake Mineola and he threw it into the lake. The gun was never found.About 4:45 a.m., about four plus hours after his first statement, Hines gave a second one in which he admitted he had the gun.In that statement he claimed he hand purchased the gun off Hoffner two weeks prior to the incident. He said he pulled the gun out, which he said was under the front seat, after Winger got into a confrontation with Boyle. He said he pointed the gun at Boyle to protect Winger and that Hoffner grabbed it and it went off.He said he and Winger quickly drove away. He claimed he didn't realize at first that Hoffner was hit, but admitted when Winger got into the car she said, "I think you shot him."Under questioning from Vlossak, Finn said he turned the recorder off between statements because there was no reason to leave a recorder running when no interview was taking place. He admitted going in and out of the room where Hines was being held and asking him questions, but said it was not recorded.He also admitted telling Winger at one point that Hoffner had died. He said he told her that to stop her from lying.Trooper James Curto testified he assisted Finn in the probe and that he interviewed Winger. He said Winger told him she didn't see the gun or any struggle but heard the shot as she and Boyle confronted each other. She also told him she saw the gun on Hines' lap after they drove away.Anthony Fortier, of Stroudsburg, who is Hines' employer, testified as did Trooper Thomas Hothouse, who took Hines into custody at his place of employment.Testimony was also given by Trooper Philip Barletto, who took photographs and a video of the scene. The video and photos were shown to the jury.At the end of the Commonwealth's case Vlossak moved to have the attempted homicide and a charge of terroristic threats dismissed due to lack evidence.He claimed there was no testimony that established terroristic threats were made by Hines. Rufe agreed and dropped the charge.Concerning the attempted homicide count, Vlossak argued that the Commonwealth had to show intent. He said the evidence never showed that Hines left his home and drove to Hoffner's residence with the intent to kill him.Matika, however, argued that the law said intent can occur in a split second and does not have to develop over a period of time. Rufe denied that motion and let the charge stand.Closing argumentsVlossak argued to the jury that his client gave the same statement that Hoffner had the gun and during a struggle it accidentally went off four times. He said he made the statement to Winger, to Finn and both verbally and written.He also argued that the second statement was made after he sat in a room handcuffed and shackled for over four hours and not even offered anything to eat, drink or use the rest room.Vlossak said there is no question Hoffner got shot but the real question was how he got shot. He also questioned the investigation conducted by police saying a lot of questions are unanswered and a lot of tests that should have occurred, never did.Matika said the stories given by Hines and Winger amounted to nothing more than lies to cover up what happened. He said only when Hines was confronted by the evidence being gathered by the police did he finally did tell the truth and made the second statement. He also reminded the jury that there was reason to question Winger's testimony because of her long-term relationship with Hines.Finally, he said, Hines' second statement mirrors what Hoffner said happened and that the defendant had the gun.