GREENFIELD — Two men accused of beating and seriously injuring a liquor store clerk and one other person in Sunderland were ordered held without bail at a dangerousness hearing Thursday in Greenfield District Court.

Warren Martinez, 30, of Northampton, and Thomas Patnode, 24, of Greenfield, were arraigned on Monday for an alleged hate crime involving the beating of an employee at The Spirit Shoppe liquor store on Amherst Road in Sunderland on Tuesday, July 16. The store clerk’s partner, who she called for help, also was allegedly assaulted.

Martinez, represented by attorney Chrisiant Bracken, pleaded not guilty to charges of mayhem, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury, two counts of assault and battery with intent to intimidate (a hate crime), breaking and entering in the nighttime with intent to commit a felony, malicious destruction of property and disorderly conduct (subsequent offense).

Patnode, represented by attorney Emily Eash, pleaded not guilty to three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, two counts of intimidation of a witness and two counts of threatening to commit a crime.

According to Northwestern Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Suhl, Martinez severely assaulted the worker, a transgender woman, at around 11 p.m., breaking her mouth’s palate and leaving her unable to “eat, drink or speak regularly.” Suhl said both Patnode and Martinez called the worker and her boyfriend a slur related to their queer identities on numerous occasions during the incident.

Patnode and Martinez, Suhl explained, attempted to purchase alcohol at the Amherst Road store four times that day, but the store clerk repeatedly turned them away because they were intoxicated. She said Martinez refused to leave several times, and the worker, fearing for her life, put a bat on her shoulder and pushed the “panic button” to call the police.

Patnode and Martinez stood before Judge Laurie MacLeod at their dangerousness hearing as the prosecution played a video taken by a witness, who called 911 and was heard pleading for Martinez to “stop” during the beating. The video depicts Martinez repeatedly punching the store clerk outside The Spirit Shoppe with Patnode nearby, at one point hitting her with a plastic bottle, causing liquid to spill out.

Although Suhl did not directly reference Patnode’s involvement in the beating, Suhl said he pulled out a knife during the conflict and pointed it at the two alleged victims in a threatening manner.

Patnode was arrested in the days following the incident after he allegedly threatened a witness on Main Street in Greenfield, leading to an additional intimidation charge.

“He saw [the witness] on Main Street in Greenfield on July 19. During that time, he asked him, ‘Come back to me behind the Wilson’s parking lot.’ [The witness] says, ‘No.’ [Patnode] said ‘I have something for you,’ and put his hand on his waistband. [The witness] says, ‘What are you going to shoot me, right? You’re on Main Street.’ He said, ‘Yes,’ but then he pulls his hand out of his waistband at that point, just showing a finger.”

Defense accounts

Eash requested that MacLeod release Patnode with a GPS ankle monitor under the condition that he stay away from Sunderland and the alleged victims. She noted that, contrary to Suhl’s account, she could not see a knife in any of the footage shared at Thursday’s hearing.

“I disagree with the commonwealth. I did not see in the video any knife pulled, and my client denies pulling a knife. As you saw in the video, he was not a participant in this brutal beating that occurred. In fact, in the second video that was inside The Spirit Shoppe, he’s seen going in to try to get Mr. Martinez out to deescalate the situation,” Eash said.

Referencing the witness’ video, Eash said Patnode could be heard yelling “stop” alongside the witness. She noted that although Patnode was arrested at the age of 18 for allegedly attempting to steal a firearm, he is now 24 years old, the father of a 2-year old, and has kept out of further legal trouble.

Eash also referenced her client’s charge of witness intimidation by reminding MacLeod that the witness testified that he is not afraid of Patnode, is friends with Patnode and does not fear retaliation from Patnode.

“Regarding the intimidation charges, he made a stupid joke with his friend ... He understands that was stupid, that it’s not OK that it made [the witness] feel uncomfortable, but as you heard on this tape, he’s not scared of him and he’s not worried that my client’s going to do anything to him. They’ve been friends for quite a while,” Eash said.

Speaking in defense of her client, Bracken urged MacLeod to release Martinez with an ankle monitor under the conditions that he also stays away from Sunderland, abstains from alcohol or drug use, and submits to drug and alcohol screening.

Bracken said that although her client does not deny his role in the assault, he was “extremely intoxicated” during the incident and had no recollection of it the next morning. She said upon watching himself engage in the beating, he cried with remorse.

“He said to me the first time I met with him that it is awful to think someone was injured because of him and could have lost their life,” Bracken said. “He gets the gravity of it, before I even gave him the full context of what had happened, then I just went over the initial police report. He broke down. He did not take this lightly. He is not excusing any of his behavior. The first thing he said to me was, ‘How can I make this right?’”

Roughly seven of Martinez’s friends, one of whom wrote MacLeod a letter of support for Martinez, filled the courtroom for Thursday’s dangerousness hearing.

Bracken added that Martinez was shocked to hear that he allegedly used a slur, noting that he, as a Black man, understands what discrimination and prejudice feels like and that’s “not who he is.” She also noted that Martinez was not the first to make physical contact during the altercation, and likely felt threatened and reacted out of intoxication.

“Not to undermine his responsibility for any of this, but I know that you can see from the video he did not initiate physical contact. It doesn’t appear from any of the witness statements that he made any kind of verbal threats or physical assaults in the liquor store until hands were put on him,” Bracken said. “Given his extremely intoxicated state, he may have been reacting to what he perceived as a threat to him.”

Fearing both defendants’ potential threat to public safety, MacLeod ruled that both Patnode and Martinez remain in custody. They will be back in court for a pretrial conference on Aug. 22.

Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at acammalleri@recorder.com or 413-930-4429.