A Baltimore City jury Tuesday needed less than two hours of deliberation to convict a 21-year-old man of attempting to kill a witness in his brother?s murder trial.
The jury found Myron Gladney guilty of shooting childhood friend Stephen Arrington ? the state?s main witness in a murder case against Gladney?s brother ? in the back in 2005.
“Witness intimidation,” prosecutor Lisa Phelps said. “Those words don?t even describe the violence and the horror that were inflicted on this witness.”
Arrington was standing at a bus stop on the 3400 block of The Alameda at 2:18 p.m. on April 6, 2005 ? the day before he was scheduled to testify ? when Gladney drove up and told him, “Don?t go to court,” according to charging documents. About 30 minutes later, Gladney returned, chased Arrington with a gun and shot at him eight times, striking him once in the back, Phelps said.
“He shot him in cold blood,” the prosecutor said, adding that Arrington now has difficulty walking.
“The only reason this is not a murder is Stephen Arrington?s life was saved at Johns Hopkins [Hospital],” Phelps said.
On Monday in Circuit Court, Arrington identified Gladney as the man who shot him. “That?s Myron. He?s the one that did it,” Arrington said from the witness stand.
During closing arguments, defense attorney Catherine Flynn attempted to cast doubt on the state?s evidence and called Arrington “a liar.”
“There?s no physical evidence to connect Mr. Gladney with this crime,” she said. Flynn accused the police offocusing on Gladney at the expense of more likely suspects and conducting a shoddy investigation.
Arrington was scheduled to testify against Gladney?s brother, Anthony, 22, who was acquitted of first-degree murder in 2005 in the killing of Brian Griffin, 38.
“The day before the murder trial, he?s left for dead on The Alameda,” Phelps said of Arrington.
Gladney faces up to life in prison when he is sentenced Sept. 5.
