Maryland?s prisons have become so violent that a judge Friday took the rare step of issuing protective orders for three men already behind bars.
Anne Arundel County Circuit Court Judge Paul Hackner issued protective orders for three inmates who have agreed to cooperate with prosecutors as witnesses to the July stabbing death of prison guard Cpl. David McGuinn at the House of Correction in Jessup.
“They are referred to as ?snitches?? and a snitch is the lowest form of life you can be in the Division of Corrections,” said Assistant State?s Attorney Eileen Reilly, who is seeking the death penalty against Lamarr Cornelius Harris, 27, of Baltimore, and Lee Edward Stephens, 27, of Salisbury, who are charged with first-degree murder in McGuinn?s death.
The protective orders mean that neither Harris, Stephens nor their defense attorneys can know the cooperating inmates? whereabouts; mention their names to the media; or make duplicates of witness statements to give to their clients.
According to court documents, one witness told investigators that he saw Harris stab McGuinn at least three times while the officer “bent forward at the waist with his hands shielding his face.”
Defense attorneys objected to prosecutors? request for the orders, saying it will prevent them from adequately defending their clients by limiting the information they can obtain from witnesses and share with their clients.
“The constitutional rights the state is asking to violate are extreme,” said William Davis, Harris? public defender.
At the hearing, Assistant Commissioner James Peguese told the judge that snitches in prison are “marked people” who are likely to be beaten or killed by prison gangs.
Solomon Hejirika, the Jessup prison?s security chief, admitted on the stand that he had no idea of the witnesses? locations and had not taken any security precautions on their behalf.
