Reputed Bloods gang member charged with Bound Brook murder asks to move trial

A reputed Bloods gang member charged with fatally shooting a Teaneck man near the Bound Brook train station last year has asked a Superior Court judge to hold his trial somewhere else. James Ford, representing himself in a Somerville courtroom today, said he’s concerned by the publicity of the case and by what he called a violation of his due process rights. "It’s clear I won’t receive true justice here," he told Judge Julie Marino. Ford, 36, of Phillipsburg, and his 22-year-old half-brother, Elijah, of Freemansburg, Pa., allegedly gunned down Damian Williams, 24, and wounded South Bound Brook teenager Kendell Harrell during an apparent gang meeting on March, 19, 2011. Ford has maintained his rights were violated, saying crucial details regarding Williams’ background were kept from the grand jury last May and led to "trumped-up charges." Both brothers are trying to have their indictments dismissed. Offering glimpses of what may have happened the night of the shooting, Ford today recalled how threats on his life and his family forced him to go to the meeting, and that he and his brother were armed because they were entering a dangerous situation. He said Williams was the leader of the gang members and a confidential informant for authorities, and that Williams called the meeting to entrap Ford. The entrapment claims, however, were met with confusion by Marino and the prosecution. "That really, logically, makes absolutely no sense," Assistant Prosecutor W. Brian Stack said. Stack also disputed the argument by Elijah Ford’s attorney, Steven Lember, that the state couldn’t prove his client was anything more than an accomplice. According to Stack, the evidence — such as witness statements that the brothers fired weapons simultaneously — was enough to say he had a bigger role in the crime. Marino said she would decide on the dismissals and change in venue later. She expressed concerns about James Ford’s claim that he and his brother were placed in a holding cell with witnesses in the case. She asked Stack to address the situation with the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office, which oversees the county jail. "That does sound like a recipe for disaster to me," she said. Jail Warden Charles O’Neill and Somerset County Sheriff Frank Provenzano declined to comment. A trial date has not been set.