Two Baltimore men convicted of killing a father at his daughter's " Sweet 16" party four years ago will get a new trial after the state's highest court ruled that a judge misled potential jurors into believing that the suspects should be found guilty.
The Maryland Court of Appeals ruling released Friday states that Baltimore Circuit Judge Charles G. Bernstein, during the process to select 12 jurors for the 2007 trial, asked how much credibility the potential jurors gave to television crime show dramas that highlight sometimes fictional, high-tech methods of gathering evidence.
The appellate judges ruled that Bernstein "abused his discretion by suggesting to the panel that 'convict' was the only option in the present case," depriving the pair of a fair trial.
Bernstein had asked the potential jurors whether they were able to convict defendants without "CSI-type" scientific evidence, language that the state's highest court said was not neutral.
Jamal Charles and Dwayne Drake, now 20 and 21, respectively, were tried together and convicted of second-degree murder in the killing of Bryant C. Jones at his Southwest Baltimore home. Prosecutors said Charles, then 16, shot Jones after he tried to force the two to leave the party.
The ruling means the pair will have to be tried again.
"It is the right decision," said Charles' attorney, Margaret A. Mead. A "neutral, detached" jury is imperative to a fair trial — it safeguards against an innocent person being convicted, she said.
Mead said that the jury looks to the judge, and if jurors think the judge has an opinion, they can be swayed.
During the trial, witnesses testified that Drake and Charles were disruptive at the party on April 14, 2006, and that when Jones asked them to leave, Drake told Charles, "Show him how we take care of business in the 'hood," and handed him a gun.
On Friday, Margaret T. Burns, a spokeswoman for the city state's attorney's office, called the shooting a "tragedy in the midst of his daughter's birthday party."
She referred to a statement at the sentencing by Jones' wife, Alisa Deneen Torbit-Jones, which had to be read by the prosecutor, Assistant State's Attorney Rita Wisthoff-Ito, because Torbit-Jones was too distraught.
"I am angry, mad and most of all enraged," the statement said. "I never imagined that I would see my loved one die so tragically and violently. I feel like I am in a dream, as well as a nightmare."
Torbit-Jones had testified that her husband escorted Charles and Drake out of the home and onto the porch when Drake refused to leave and demanded his $1 party admission fee back.
She said that when she turned to call the police, she heard Drake make the threat. She said she heard shots and turned back toward the front door as Charles and Drake ran from the home.
"This is a heartbreaking case," Burns said. "Our initial reaction was for the victim's family — how difficult this will be for them to hear. [But] we will move forward with the trial."
A date has not been set for a new trial.