As his sentencing hearing came to a close Tuesday, former Prince George’s County police officer Keith Washington was still fighting his 45-year sentence for manslaughter, apologizing to victims and hinting to a packed courtroom the future arguments of already filed appeals.
“If I had a chance for the time and distance, I would never have shot Brandon,” Washington said, addressing the mother of Brandon Clark, a furniture delivery man whom Washington shot in his Accokeek home in January 2007.
He then turned to Robert White, Clark’s cousin who was also shot by Washington while they tried to deliver a bed frame.
“I have no animosity toward you,” Washington told White. “I apologize to all of you.”
As he wound down his five-minute speech, Washington continued to embrace the argument that he was acting in self-defense; the two men, he had argued in court, had attacked him and opened fire to fend them off.
“If I could not have shot them, I wouldn’t have. It was not my desire to shoot anyone in my house,” he said.
And that idea was echoed moments later outside the court house by his attorney Roland Patterson who announced an appeal had already been filed.
“This case represents factually the nightmare and potential nightmare of any male head of household across this nation,” Patterson said.
But the argument that Washington was acting in self-defense convinced neither judge nor the jury that convicted him of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of first-degree assault and two gun charges in February.
On Tuesday, before sentencing Washington to 45 years behind bars, county Circuit Court Judge Michael Whalen said there’s always been “murkiness” to the self-defense claim.
“There wasn’t any discernible injury from any medical personnel who examined him,” Whalen said.
“It is an escapable fact that one man is dead and that another man’s life has been harmed.”
