The 18-year-old man accused of attempted murder in the second of two Harper's Choice shootings in September took the stand in his own defense yesterday, testifying that it was another man who pulled the trigger in retaliation for the shooting 24 hours earlier.

In several hours of testimony before a Howard Circuit Court jury, Robert Joseph Manning said that Tavon Donya Sands fired the shot from a sawed-off shotgun that seriously wounded John Gordon Jackson, 38, outside the Fall River Terrace apartments about 1: 50 a.m. Sept. 21.

Manning testified that Sands was angry with Jackson, believing that Jackson had shot his best friend, Raymond Lawson, the previous night, a block and a half away.

Testimony by Manning and others illustrated a series of relationships between people who are either involved in the drug trade in Harper's Choice or know about it.

They include:

Manning, an admitted drug dealer and high school dropout from Baltimore, who has been charged with attempted first- and second-degree murder in connection with Jackson's shooting;

Jackson, an admitted drug user who once traded his girlfriend's ring for $40 worth of cocaine, and who lent out her car on the night he was shot for drugs;

Sands, a Harper's Choice man who has not been charged in this case, but who invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination on the stand yesterday;

Maurice Green, a 21-year-old Baltimore man who has been charged with Lawson's shooting, whom Manning testified supplied his drugs; and Aminah Barnes, Lawson's 16-year-old girlfriend, whom Manning testified was at the scene when Jackson was shot, and who also invoked the Fifth Amendment yesterday.

Manning's testimony contradicted what Jackson told the jury Tuesday: that it was Manning who fired the shot that wounded his arm and right side and left him at Maryland Shock Trauma Center for nearly two weeks.

Manning could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted of attempted murder.

He told the jury of eight men and four women a complex series of events leading up to Jackson's shooting. He said he was getting ready to sell Jackson crack cocaine at the Fall River Terrace complex on the evening of Sept. 20 when he saw a Maxima belonging to Green drive up.

Manning said he ran away because he owed Green $200 for drugs he had been "fronted," and that he was afraid Green might shoot him for not having paid it back.

Manning and Green had spoken by telephone earlier in the day, according to Manning's testimony, at which time they discussed the fact that Lawson had been shot. "There's going to be more of that if I don't get my money," Green said, according to Manning. Manning said Green had showed him a 9 mm handgun a few days earlier, and he assumed that Green had shot Lawson.

On his way to his girlfriend's apartment nearby, Manning said, he ran into Sands, Barnes and a third person. He said Sands had a sawed-off shotgun, and that he heard Sands and Barnes talking about "getting back" at Jackson for what he purportedly did to Lawson early that morning.

According to Manning's testimony, Sands thought Jackson had shot Lawson in retaliation for smashing up his Toyota truck the previous summer. Jackson testified yesterday that he had lent his car to Lawson and that Lawson had returned it damaged and refused to pay for its repair.

Later that night, Manning said, he, Sands and Barnes went to Fall River Terrace, where he and Barnes sat on a bench and Sands crouched by a nearby trash container. When Jackson showed up a few minutes later, Manning said, he and Barnes started to walk away when they realized what was about to happen. Sands then fired a shot, Manning asserted.

"I didn't believe he was going to shoot him," Manning said. Manning said he didn't try to stop the shooting because "It wasn't none of my business."

The defense is expected to call its remaining witnesses today.

Pub Date: 3/04/99