A federal prosecutor said Leeander Blake and Terrence Tolbert carjacked and fatally shot Straughan Lee Griffin because they needed his Jeep to drive from Annapolis to Glen Burnie.
“To lose your life for the reason in this case, because Mr. Blake and his friend, Mr. Tolbert, needed a ride … is just ridiculous,” Assistant U.S. Attorney John Purcell Jr. said during opening statements Tuesday in Blake?s murder and carjacking trial in U.S. District Court in Baltimore City.
Griffin, 51, was shot in the forehead while unloading his Jeep Grand Cherokee in front of his house in Annapolis? historic district in September 2002.
Tolbert, 24, who is serving a life sentence for the murder, and Blake, 22, ran over Griffin in Griffin?s Jeep as they left, according to prosecutors.
“They killed him twice,” Purcell told the jury.
It was the first homicide since 1968 in the historic district of Annapolis, according to The Associated Press.
The trial commenced Monday, after nearly five years of legal proceedings on the admissibility of Blake?s confession to Annapolis police in state court.
Federal prosecutors took up the case last year, after charges against Blake were dropped in state court.
In his statements to police, Blake said he pointed Griffin out as a target, but Tolbert pulled the trigger, Purcell said.
“No matter who pulled the trigger, [Griffin] would be here but for Mr. Blake,” Purcell said.
Defense attorney Kenneth Ravenell said police used scare tactics “right out of Hollywood” to cull Blake?s confession.
Police dragged Blake from his house in his underwear and sequestered him in a cold cell, with no explanation, Ravenell said.
A detective and an officer later returned to Blake?s cell with charges and the penalty listed as “DEATH,” but at 17, Brown was ineligible for the death penalty, Ravenell said.
Though Blake requested an attorney, the police officer said, “I bet you want to talk now, huh?” according to court papers.
When a detective returned later to give Blake his clothes, he waived his right to an attorney and confessed to participating in the crime.
“They didn?t want his mother there, they didn?t want a lawyer there ? they wanted a statement from a scared kid,” Ravenell said.
The trial is expected to run through next week.
