Oscar Antonio Lopez, 28, came to Howard County Circuit Court in his wheelchair Wednesday to speak out against the man who shot him in the back in 2000, leaving him paralyzed.
Lopez carried with him a prepared statement that read: “I can understand why [DeShawn] Clement would like to have his record erased and start over again. I would also like to have the chance to start over again and to have the injury that he caused me erased. But it cannot be done.”
But Lopez never got the chance to read his message in court.
First, his case was shuffled from Judge Lenore Gelfman?s court room, which was hearing criminal cases, to Judge Richard Bernhardt?s court room, which was hearing juvenile cases.
Then, Bernhardt postponed the hearing because his wife once represented Clement, 22, who is trying to have his criminal record expunged.
“As such, that represents a conflict of interest and causes me to recuse myself,” Bernhardt said.
As Clement left the court house, he declined to comment, but his father, who is also named DeShawn, said his 22-year-old son should have a clean record.
“He was a juvenile then, and he?s a man now,” Clement?s father said. “What?s done is done.”
Clement said his son has never apologized to Lopez, because Lopez, who is a Salvadoran immigrant, is not a native speaker of English.
“How can he apologize to someone who doesn?t speak English?” Clement said.
Lopez?s attorney, State Del. Neil Quinter, D-District 13, said such comments are troubling.
“It shows they don?t feel any remorse for what Clement did to Antonio,” Quinter said.
“He committed one of the most serious crimes you can. He shot Antonio in the back and sentenced him to a wheelchair the rest of his life. If Antonio has to be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life, then the least Clement should have to do is carry a record.”
Clement was found involved ? the juvenile equivalent of guilty ? in shooting and paralyzing Lopez as he was walking home from his minimum-wage job at Wendy?s fast-food restaurant in Columbia. The bullet from Clement?s gun is still lodged in Lopez?s spine.
Lopez?s case caused the Maryland General Assembly to pass a new state law, sponsored by Quinter, that gave victims of juvenile violent crime the right of appeal.
Lopez, who said the Howard County Circuit Court had denied him his rights as a victim in 2002 by not consulting him during portions of Clement?s criminal proceedings, appealed his case to the Court of Appeals, Maryland?s highest court.
The Court of Appeals denied Lopez the right of appeal in 2005, because Clement was a juvenile.
Maryland?s new victims rights law, which takes effect Oct. 1, trumps that ruling.
