were yesterday asked to put themselves in the shoes of the accused.

"What would you do if you were kicked in the face and slammed up against a wall?'' asked lawyer Mr. Delroy Duncan, representing Win ston Wellington Burgess, 31, of Turkey Hill, St. George's.

Burgess is charged with unlawfully killing Wilfred (Oopie) Ming Jr. and intentionally causing him grievous bodily harm on September 10, 1994.

Mr. Duncan said it was important to understand his client was not the aggressor and did not start the fight that took place inside Canterbury's Bar and Grill on Water Street.

He said the key issue for the jury to decide was whether Burgess intended to murder Ming by inflicting grievous bodily harm.

Mr. Duncan, summing up, said everything that occurred before the fight started pointed to Ming being the aggressor and not his client.

Mr. Duncan said the fight started when Ming kicked Burgess who then endured a "pounding'' from Ming.

"At that point, would it be reasonable for Burgess to want to defend himself from the pounding?'' he asked. "In those circumstances can you calmly, coolly and dispassionately decide what you will do next? "No. You will grab the first thing you see and try to stop it ... there is no logical approach available to measure precisely the amount of force.'' But Attorney General Mr. Elliott Mottley said it was irrelevant who started the fight because there was a challenge that both men accepted.

He said Ming was unarmed and remained unarmed throughout the fight, while Burgess accepted the challenge knowing that he had a knife and that Ming was unarmed.

Furthermore Mr. Mottley asserted that Ming kicked Burgess in the face because he saw he had a knife.

Mr. Mottley said at least one prosecution witness saw Burgess holding a knife behind his back and there was no other conclusion that could be drawn other than he "armed himself with intent to cause Ming grievous bodily harm or to cause his death.

"I invite you to believe he stabbed Ming ... This was deliberate unprovoked conduct that caused Oopie Ming's death.'' Presiding is Puisne Judge the Hon. Mrs. Justice Wade.