Two men facing charges including attempted murder and assault and battery were found not guilty on all counts Monday by a superior court jury.

Defense attorney Rob Moriarty.

Mark Lovewell

Defense attorney Rob Moriarty.

Mark Lovewell

A jury of 10 women and two men deliberated for less than three hours Monday in the Edgartown courthouse before returning not guilty verdicts for Patrece L. Petersen and Darryl B. Baptiste.

The case stemmed from a bar fight that took place outside the Ritz Cafe in Oak Bluffs in March 2013.

Mr. Baptiste, 36, of Pennsylvania, and Mr. Petersen, 42, of Edgartown, were indicted by a grand jury in the spring of 2013. Mr. Petersen faced charges of assault to murder, attempted murder, and assault and battery; Mr. Baptiste was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and assault and battery.

The case was heard before the Hon. Richard J. Chin, an associate justice of the superior court. The trial took an unusual turn last Friday when the judge halted the proceedings and said, with the jury out, that he had found misconduct by the prosecution. Judge Chin raised concerns about whether certain actions by the Cape and Islands assistant district attorney had been prejudicial toward the defendants, who are both African American, but he declined to dismiss the case.

During closing arguments Monday, the prosecution and the defense offered two different pictures of the events that unfolded.

Prosecutor Laura Marshard.

Mark Lovewell

Prosecutor Laura Marshard.

Mark Lovewell

Assistant district attorney Laura Marshard said that two brothers, one an Island resident and the other visiting on military leave, were at the Ritz when Mr. Baptiste bumped into one of the alleged victims, spilling his beer. According to the alleged victims, Mr. Baptiste threatened the man in the ensuing disagreement. Later, Mr. Petersen and Mr. Baptiste left and were not allowed back into the Ritz because of their behavior, Ms. Marshard said.

Ms. Marshard said the men were angry about not being allowed into the bar and an altercation ensued. She said there were four of five people attacking the alleged victims, and she said Mr. Petersen tried to strangle one of the alleged victims, while Mr. Baptiste allegedly used a knife to cut a victim in the neck and across his leather jacket.

“This is not a tear, this is a cut,” Ms. Marshard said, holding up a damaged leather jacket. “The coat that is across his back is cut 25 inches in length.”

She said Mr. Petersen yelled that he was going to kill one of the alleged victims numerous times. “That’s how you know he had the intent to kill,” she said, adding that photographs and medical records backed this up.

She said Mr. Petersen and Mr. Baptiste left the scene when the police arrived. “These men vanished before the Oak Bluffs police got there,” Ms. Marshard said.

The alleged victims testified early in the trial, as did police, an expert from the state medical lab, and witnesses. Mr. Baptiste took the stand last Thursday to testify in his own defense.

Patrece L. Petersen.

Mark Lovewell

Patrece L. Petersen.

Mark Lovewell

The defense described a different version of events.

Robert Moriarty, counsel for Mr. Petersen and John Amabile, representing Mr. Baptiste, said their clients had been at the Ritz along with friends that night, then left to go to a different establishment. Mr. Baptiste said he was in town to celebrate his birthday.

When the group tried to go back to the Ritz, the attorneys argued, they were not allowed in. They proceeded up Circuit avenue to where their car was parked, the attorneys said, when the alleged victims chased them and started the altercation. They argued that the defendants acted in self defense during the altercation and cooperated with police.

Mr. Moriarty told the jury they should not believe the testimony of the alleged victims because they contradicted each other, and said one of the men testified that he threw the first punch. “He should be sitting where Mr. Petersen and Mr. Baptiste are,” Mr. Moriarty said.

Darryl B. Baptiste.

Mark Lovewell

Darryl B. Baptiste.

Mark Lovewell

Mr. Amabile, said the government failed to prove Mr. Baptiste is guilty. “My client was attacked and defended himself and no more, and he committed no crime,” Mr. Amabile said.

Mr. Amabile also asked the jury to think about “the racial overlay of this whole thing.” Mr. Petersen and Mr. Baptiste are African American; the alleged victims are white. Mr. Amabile said the defendants took offense to not being allowed back into the bar. Additionally, he said, they did not think to call the police. “Some people, people in the black community, they don’t always think the best thing to do is call the police,” he said.

Ms. Marshard said there was “absolutely no evidence of racial discrimination.”

After the verdict was read, Mr. Petersen and Mr. Baptiste hugged their attorneys.

The trial was the last piece of business for the fall session of the Dukes County Superior Court.