A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted Leeander Jerome Blake, 21, in the 2002 carjacking and murder of a businessman outside his home in the historic district of
Annapolis.
The indictment comes after years of controversy surrounding an incriminating statement made by Blake, one of the defendants in the murder, after his arrest in October 2002. An Anne Arundel County Circuit Court judge ruled that the statement was inadmissible, a decision that was reversed by the Maryland Court of Special Appeals.
The case was then taken before the Maryland Court of Appeals, where the original decision was upheld. Ultimately, it went to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to take the case.
The co-defendant in the case, Terrence Tolbert, was convicted of first-degree murder in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court and sentenced to life in prison.
Blake was never tried after his statement was ruled out.
“This is a day that I?ve been waiting … the wheels of justice will again start turning,” said Anne Arundel County State?s Attorney Frank Weathersbee.
Blake was indicted on charges of murder and carjacking. If convicted, he could be eligible for life in prison. He would not be eligible for the death penalty because he was 17 when the crime was committed.
U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein said he took up the case in November 2005 and collected evidence over nine months. He declined to say whether there was new evidence in the case or if Blake?s statement would be used as part of the prosecution. But he did say the statement would not be inadmissible unless a federal judge rules so.
“No evidentiary decision would be binding … We?d essentially be starting fresh in federal court,” he said.
The statement in question was made after Blake was arrested on Oct. 26, 2002. Wearing only shorts and a tank top, he was placed in a “chilly cell,” court documents say, and told that Tolbert had identified him as the shooter.
