There was a shooting at Towson University in 2021 and my client was arrested for Attempted First Degree Murder. The police believed he had a gun and shot 2 students and then himself. Well they were wrong, but understandably so. In the chaos, my client was taken to the hospital and his clothing removed by friends. When I see him at the jail he is brought in on a wheelchair. As I start to interview him about the facts I first ask bout his “self-inflicted” wound. He says “no I got shot.” He hoists himself out the wheelchair at my request, turns around and drops his sweat pants. Well there is a hole in the back of the leg that is impossible to be an exit would. I contact the prosecutor from the jail parking garage to tell him he has the wrong man and he needs to be released or the bail revised.
We get him into court and all the shooting charges are dropped and I get him released on his own recognizance. The State charges him in the Circuit Court with a handgun and assault. There is a video showing him throw a punch at another guy (Assault), and after being shot throwing what looks like a bb gun, pellet gun, or handgun. Someone picks it up and leaves so it is never recovered, I remind the prosecutor that he has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the “weapon” is a handgun as defined by statute. We don’t know what the hell it is or if it is operable, etc…
The case is set for trial this month and the prosecutor and I work out a plea for time served (1 month) and I am free to ask for a PBJ (no conviction). Under the circumstances the Judge grants it. No period of probation, it is all over. What started out as the biggest case in Towson still is the biggest case in Towson. If they ever catch the shooter my client will be a witness, but with the help of the State a miscarriage of justice was quickly denied.