Witness-intimidation victims urge the passage of legislation

The woman in the light-green blazer, shaking and holding back tears, told a panel of senators yesterday that witness intimidation is "like a nightmare."

"We've suffered," she said on behalf of her Baltimore family. "We're still suffering."

Calling herself "Mrs. T" because she fears for the safety of her family, the woman is a relative of a little girl who came to court on her 11th birthday to identify a man as her father's killer. Tashiera Peterson testified even though the defendant had asked a cellmate to kill the little girl and her mother, prosecutors said.

Mrs. T and other victims of witness intimidation urged state lawmakers to back three bills seeking to curb the problem - by increasing the maximum penalty for witness intimidation to 20 years in prison and by permitting some statements of intimidated witnesses to be used in court even if the witnesses are not present. The victims were joined by prosecutors who say witness intimidation hampers their efforts in courts.

Attorneys with the state Office of the Public Defender and the Maryland Criminal Defense Attorneys Association testified that hearsay exceptions such as the ones proposed in two bills could infringe on the constitutional right of defendants to confront their accusers.

Witness-intimidation legislation sponsored by Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. has been co-signed by 37 senators and 118 delegates, said his legal counsel.

Ehrlich introduced similar legislation last year - and saw it killed in a House committee - but he said yesterday that he is "cautiously optimistic" this year's measure will pass. "Since last year, there has been a drumbeat," the governor said.

High-profile instances of intimidation, such as the recent firebombing of the home of a woman who called police about drug dealing in her Harwood neighborhood, have helped give the issue new urgency, the governor and supporters of his bill said.

At the hearing, city State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy said the intimidation tactics used by violent drug enforcers range from mob-style executions to subtler actions, such as tacking up a witness' police statement on doors in the community. Calling it the city's "No. 1 public safety issue," she said a recent DVD titled Stop Snitching, which she has given to legislators, proves the problem is real.

Several senators at the hearing said they believe curbing witness intimidation is so important it needs to become emergency legislation.

Sen. Brian E. Frosh, chairman of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee and co-sponsor of legislation that mostly mirrors the governor's bill, said he thought the sponsors and supporters of the various bills are "all on the same page."

But Frosh and other senators acknowledged concerns that potentially unreliable statements could be introduced as evidence without being challenged by cross-examination.

Defendants have a constitutional right to confront their accusers, but federal and state courts say that if the defendants cause the absence of witnesses, they forfeit that right and the right to object to the absent accuser's statement as hearsay. At least 10 states and the U.S. government have written the hearsay exception into law.

Paul DeWolfe, public defender for Montgomery County, testified against the bills, but he said public defenders "recognize the problem." He proposed changes to the bills that he said would make them more amenable to defense lawyers.

Ehrlich's and Frosh's legislation resemble the much broader federal hearsay exception, which also permits statements an intimidated witness made to another person, such as a relative or a fellow gang member.

The witness intimidation bills are expected to face stronger opposition in the House Judiciary Committee. Del. Joseph F. Vallario Jr., committee chairman and a Prince George's County Democrat, questioned the constitutionality of Ehrlich's bill last year.

Mrs. T said she came to Annapolis because she wanted legislators to know that witness intimidation was "not TV, not a video, not a CD. It's reality."

The man accused of killing Tashiera Peterson's father was acquitted last year by a city jury. But DeAndre Whitehead faces two federal charges of solicitation to commit witness tampering for trying to have the little girl and her mother killed. If convicted, he could be sentenced to 10 years in prison without parole on each count.

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