The testimony of a mother whose son was shot and killed by a former Prince George’s County homeland security official won’t be allowed in court, a judge has ruled.
The mother of Brandon Clark, one of two delivery men who were shot by Keith Washington, had spoken to her son using hand signals as he lay on his deathbed in the weeks following the Jan. 24, 2007, incident.
Her testimony that Clark told her he and Robert White, who survived his wounds, did not attack Washington is hearsay, the judge said, and won’t be allowed.
Washington has contended he opened fire at the two men in self-defense, saying they attacked him after they were told to leave his 6-year-old daughter’s bedroom.
Meanwhile, Washington’s lawyer, Mike Starr,is trying to undermine White, the sole eyewitness in the trial that starts Feb. 11, saying White failed to register as a sex offender when he started working for a Maryland moving company and that the state’s failure to prosecute him for not registering is an indication of bias.
White had worked for the company for three weeks. State law requires sex offenders to register within 14 days. He has been considered a sex offender since his 1995 South Carolina arrest on a charge of assault with the intent to commit criminal sex.
Ramon Korionoff, spokesman for State’s Attorney Glenn Ivey, said the office turned the question of White’s registration over to the state attorney general two weeks ago.
Michael Winkelman, White’s attorney in a civil lawsuit filed against Washington and the county last week, said of Starr’s attempt to discredit his client, “It’s an expected smear tactic, and I don’t think it’s relevant.”
The civil suit alleges Washington lied to investigators about the two men attacking him and that detectives meddled with the investigation.
Evidence regarding White’s 1993 conviction on grand larceny charges, a 1995 stolen goods charge and a 1995 first-degree burglary charge have been allowed by the judge because they relate to his credibility, Judge Michael Whalen has ruled.
In the fall, prosecutors wanted to include in the trial details on Washington’s 1994 workers’ compensation claim in which he was declared unsuitable for work because of homicidal thoughts resulting from depression and post-traumatic stress.
The judge said those details were not relevant to the criminal charges Washington faces.
