The state rested its case after calling four final witnesses Thursday, in the trial of a teenage squeegee worker accused of fatally shooting a man in downtown Baltimore last summer.
Prior to that, the battle over evidence interpretation continued on the fourth day of trial at the Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. courthouse. Jurors heard from forensic technicians, the primary homicide detective and a medical examiner. Key pieces of evidence include video footage and a black backpack found at the crime scene.
WYPR is not naming the defendant, because he is a minor.
The prosecution said CCTV and dashcam video clearly shows Reynolds walking away from squeegee workers before being shot five times.
The defense said the video is grainy and it didn’t capture Reynolds attacking the group with a baseball bat, before being shot by someone —other than their client in self-defense in their belief — on July 7, 2022.
During cross examination, defense attorney Warren Brown drilled in on detective John Amato. The lead detective said he did not view surveillance from surrounding businesses like Sullivan’s Steakhouse and Hyatt Regency. Amato told jurors he was unable to get footage from Sullivan’s which remains closed because of a liquor violation.
He also said the parking garage adjacent to the shooting had no camera. When asked if he checked cameras at the Hyatt, Amato said the security manager was not present when he and other officers went to inspect that footage. He said he made no further attempts because “an arrest had been made.”
Brown: Isn’t it important to find out what the motive is for Reynolds who provoked the attack?
Amato: It was more important to find who the shooter was.
On Wednesday, co-defense counsel J. Wyndal Gordon said the Baltimore Police Department is “sloppy in their investigations.”
“It's very frustrating that we rely on people at the Baltimore City Police Department to conduct thorough investigations, and this one was anything but that,” Gordon said.
Black backpack
The prosecution said the defendant’s prints were found on the straps of a black backpack. Detective Amato said the teen deliberately went to retrieve the bag, concealed his face with a mask, then shot. He said the defendant had a different bag, “a cross bag,” and referred to the black bag containing the murder weapon as a 'community bag.’
The defense pushed back, at the suggestion of a shared bag among squeegee workers.
“Whose bag is it anyway?” asked Brown.
“I don’t know,” replied detective Amato, who added that he was unable to locate the individual whose credit cards were in the bag.
“He went on to say every one of them knew what was in that bag,” said Brown in an interview with WYPR. “Where did that come from? Except that you just assume that, they're all little thugs. How can you say that all of these kids had something to do with the gun in that bag?”
Both sides will deliver closing arguments Monday.
