August 25,2004
MARK LINEBERGER
FREE PRESS STAFF
Several witnesses gave different accounts Tuesday of what happened more than a year ago when a Kinston man lost his ear in a fight at a local restaurant. Kenneth Thigpen, 35, of Kinston, sat through the second day of his trial in Lenoir County Superior Court while his lawyers argued that he didn't bite off Mark Conway's ear in March 2003.
The alleged incident occurred in Ham's Restaurant on North Herritage Street.
Conway, then 43, had gathered with family and friends to celebrate his daughter's victory in the Kinston Junior Miss contest.
Thigpen was also at the restaurant that night, drinking with his friends and by most accounts having a good time.
But everyone's fun ended when the two crossed paths toward the end of the night. Thigpen and Conway got into a fight on the ground. Conway eventually got up. His ear didn't.
While the jury will decide whether Thigpen bit off Conway's ear, witnesses for the prosecution and the defense gave very different versions of how the fight went down.
In some versions, Conway was jumped by a drunken Thigpen who bit his ear off like a crazed animal. In testimony, Thigpen was defending himself from an angry Conway, who went out of his way to provoke a fight.
It was the latter, according a waiter who was working at Ham's that night.
Nick Sauls testified that he saw Conway grab Thigpen and repeatedly smash his head into the floor of the bar.
But according to most of the prosecution witnesses, which included family and friends, Conway couldn't even move his arms because Thigpen had put him in a bear hug as they tumbled to the floor.
Some witnesses weren't sure what started the fight, but everyone agreed that Conway was walking pass Thigpen when something Thigpen said caused him to turn around and walk over to him.
Conway's friend Dennis Rawls told the court that Conway only intended to clear up any misunderstanding when Thigpen said something derogatory.
One woman sitting at the bar said Conway exchanged words with Thigpen before cursing and putting him in a headlock.
Conway himself said he thought Thigpen had misinterpreted something he intended for the bartender after she turned on a cigarette machine so his friend could buy a pack of smokes.
No matter how the fight started, the defense contends that Thigpen didn't bite Conway's ear off and that it came off by some other method.
The defense is expected to continue interviewing witnesses today.
Conway said he is having reconstructive surgery in California where doctors will try to build a new ear with cartilage removed from between his ribs.
Mark Lineberger can be reached at (252) 527-3191, Ext. 251, or Mark_Lineberger@link.freedom.com.
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