When a group of people separated Thomas E. Blakeley and Jaered N. Andrews, were they keeping Blakeley from Andrews or the men from each other?

When Andrews followed Jerrold and Samuel Allen into the Blue Ribbon Bar in Farrell did he do so to back them up or to make peace when a fight broke out?

When Andrews, a former "American Idol" contestant, punched Blakeley in the face, was he defending himself from attack or taking advantage of the fact Blakeley was outnumbered?

There is little difference in the chain of events and basic facts presented by the prosecution and defense in Andrews' simple assault case, but the interpretations of those facts are vastly unlike.

Andrews, 25, of Austintown, Ohio, is charged with punching Blakeley Nov. 16. Blakeley, 39, of 44 S. Third St., Sharpsville, died when the punch felled him and he hit his head off the pavement.

Blakeley died from his brain hitting his skull, said Dr. Eric Vey, the Erie forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy.

The case presented by Assistant District Attorney Robert Kochems is essentially the same as offered at Andrews' preliminary hearing in March.

But, in the first day of testimony Wednesday, Andrews got to present his side.

Andrews gave the following account:

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