The defense for a state prison inmate charged with murdering a correctional officer during a hospital escape says the police investigation was incomplete.
Brandon Morris, 22, of Baltimore City, was taken to the Hagerstown Police Department on Jan. 26, 2006, after leading police on a chase.
Trooper Michael Kretzer said he collected swabs from Morris? hands to be tested for gunshot residue.
Gunshot residue was found on both of Morris? hands, said Washington County State?s Attorney Joseph Michael on Tuesday in Howard Circuit Court. But Morris? attorney Arcangelo Tuminelli questioned why police never tested for residue on the hands of correctional officer Jeffery Wroten, who was guarding Morris at Washington County Hospital.
Tuminelli implied Wroten could have fired the fatal shot.
Forensic scientist Jeffrey Kercheval said medical intervention might have interfered with evidence collection because Wroten was treated for a gunshot wound to his face, and the evidence is no good after about eight hours.
“Treatment of a victim supersedes the preservation of evidence,” Kercheval said.
Tuminelli said Morris? hands were placed in bags to preserve the evidence. Kercheval said evidence of gunshot residue does not indicate a person fired a gun. Residue also may be on the victim.
The jury also heard written testimony from cabdriver Frank Fultz, whom Morris hijacked.Fultz told police Morris left the cab after Fultz drove it into a concrete wall.
Morris “was wearing boxer shorts and tube socks,” said Sgt. Jim Hurd, who apprehended Morris.
“Eventually, he threw the gun, and he was taken to the ground by another officer.”
Fast fact
In Maryland, death penalty cases are the only criminal cases in which a jury, rather than a judge, decides a defendant?s sentence.
