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A jury has been assembled to hear the case of a 25-year-old Springfield man accused of an armed home invasion in Adams.

PITTSFIELD A jury has been seated to hear the case of a Springfield man accused in an armed home invasion.

And the key witness in the case has signaled that he intends to invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

Opening arguments are expected to begin Tuesday in the trial of 25-year-old Jordan Hawkins-Darden in the October 2018 incident.

In court Monday, Assistant District Attorney Andrew Giarolo indicated that the prosecution will seek to provide immunity to Jacob Blanchard in exchange for his testimony against Hawkins-Darden.

Giarolo said Blanchard is credible and the only person who can identify Hawkins-Darden. Defense attorney Joshua Hochberg has objected to prosecutors request to allow Blanchard to identify his client to the jury.

Without Mr. Blanchards testimony, were unable to go forward, Giarolo said. Judge John Agostini must yet rule on the prosecutions immunity request.

Several dozen prospective jurors filtered into the courtroom at Berkshire Superior Court around 11:30 a.m. Monday, and a few hours later a jury of 14 people, including two alternates, was seated.

Agostini summed up the allegations against Hawkins-Darden to the jury pool. He said that on Oct. 18, 2018, Hawkins-Darden allegedly entered an Adams home with three other people, two of whom pointed what appeared to be handguns at two occupants.

The suspects then stole several jars of marijuana, a cellphone and a wallet from the home, he said.

One of the victims identified Blanchard as having been involved in the home invasion, according to court documents, but Blanchard never was charged in that case.

Blanchard is also a key prosecution witness in the October Mountain State Forest shooting case that left victim Nick Carnevale critically injured.

Hochberg has asserted that Blanchard was not charged in the home invasion in order to protect his credibility as a witness in the shooting case.

Agostini agreed to delay the shooting trial until March, after defense attorneys for two of four defendants in that case raised concerns about Blanchards credibility, citing Hochbergs claim.

He also ordered that prosecutors hand over to the defense in the October Mountain shooting case, no later than Dec. 3, the complete file regarding the home invasion.

Hawkins-Darden has pleaded not guilty to two counts each of home invasion, armed robbery, assault with a dangerous weapon and larceny from a building, as well as a single count of daytime breaking and entering with intent to commit a felony.

A co-defendant, Jacob Galipeo, took a plea deal in May. Giarolo said prosecutors offered to Hawkins-Darden an identical deal, which would have had the state drop the most serious felony offenses and request a sentence of one year in jail, but the defendant opted to go to trial.

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Trial set to begin in 2018 home invasion, and the case hangs on a witness seeking immunity - Berkshire Eagle