LI Man Accused Of Fatal Shooting 'Confident' He Will Be Acquitted: Lawyer

MASTIC, NY — The attorney for a man accused of gunning down a man on the Poospatuck Indian Reservation in Mastic says his client's case will all come down to whether he could protect himself in his home.

James Brown, 43, was indicted for second-degree murder and criminal possession of a firearm for shooting his longtime friend, Umar Elquhir, multiple times, causing his death on Nov. 7, prosecutors said.

Video surveillance from a store across the street from Brown’s home shows Brown and Elquhir in brief fisticuffs earlier in the evening, prosecutors said, adding that Elquhir left but returned around two hours later and parked outside of Brown’s home.

Brown then left his home, walked toward Elquhir’s car, and fired about nine shots at him through the rear passenger window, and once he was done, Elquhir opened the driver’s door and collapsed onto the ground, prosecutors said.

Brown's defense attorney, Steven Politi of Central Islip, said he acted in self-defense and is confident that once all of the details of the case are examined at trial he will be acquitted.

"The case has a lot of intricacies that the district attorney's office has not yet developed," he told Patch.

Politi noted Elquhir had been acquitted of a 2020 murder in February, and that there was an extensive trial that delved into his "brutally violent propensities."

This case is going to come down to whether or not "an individual has a right to protect their family, protect their home, and protect themselves" from someone "who has threatened their life," he said.

Elquhir came to Brown's house uninvited and started a physical fight with him "several hours prior to coming back to his house" and after "threatening his life for multiple days."

The fight was started because Elquhir didn't "know how to get along with people in society, and he overstepped his boundaries," according to Politi.

Brown was ordered held on $500,000 cash, $5 million bond or $5 million partially secured bond. The amount of bail that was ordered is not common, according to Politi.

"It's rare that a defendant on a murder case gets the option of making bail," he said. "They're always in Suffolk County remanded."

Brown waited 12 days to turn himself in, and in that time, investigators "didn't want him" while "they handled their case."

"The bottom line is my client is awaiting his trial, and he's very confident he's going to be acquitted," Politi said. "And I think that when all the facts come out, the statement that's going to be made by the jurors of Suffolk County is you can't threaten people's lives. And you don't have to sit in the house and wait to be killed."

District Attorney Ray Tierney office declined to respond to Politi's statements in this story.

In a statement after Brown's indictment, Tierney described Elquhir's shooting as "wanton violence" and said it "would not be tolerated" in Suffolk.

Brown had not posted bail as of Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the Suffolk County Sheriff's office said.

Brown is due back in court Jan. 25.

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