Trial of Cubs minor leaguer begins

What do you think the verdict should be? Let me know.

The felonious assault trial of Chicago Cubs farmhand Julio Castillo began Tuesday in Dayton, Ohio.

You might remember Castillo as the pitcher for the Midwest League's Peoria Chiefs who tried to fire a baseball into the dugout of the Dayton Dragons during a full-scale brawl between the teams but had it go into the stands at Dayton's Fifth Third Field and strike a fan instead.

"It came and struck me in the head here, knocking my hat off and leaving a mark where the seams hit me," testified Chris McCarthy, 45, of Middletown, Ohio. "I didn't remember all the details after that. I did not lose consciousness, but I was not thinking clearly."

"(Castillo) decided he was going to hurt someone, anyone,"  Assistant Montgomery County Prosecutor Jon Marshall said. "He had in his hand a hard dense object, a baseball. He decided to hurl that baseball, that object, with great force."

Castillo has been charged with two counts of felonious assault/felonious assault with a deadly weapon and felonious assault  causing serious physical harm. He could face up to 16 years in prison if convicted.

"He throws it at the dugout-at the fencing in front of the dugout-to hit an inanimate object to scare them away," defense attorney Dennis Lieberman said. "He does it because he can't talk. He can't speak English ... He wasn't throwing it at an individual."

Here's video of the brawl, if you don't remember it: