She turned her chair on the witness stand so that her back was to Bassat and began crying when she was asked to point him out during her testimony.
Testifying through a Spanish-speaking interpreter, Cosme told jurors that she was afraid of the boys throwing eggs and shooting BB guns at her house during the Halloween party. She said she called her husband and asked him to come home or to send someone who could speak both English and Spanish.
"I just wanted to talk to the parents of the children or to the children," Cosme testified. "Because I didn't want any problems."
Both Cosme and her daughter said that within weeks after the killing, Bassat threatened to use the same .357-caliber handgun on their family if they told anyone that he had admitted shooting "the old man."
Safety concerns were also apparently on the mind of a juror hearing the case.
After testimony about Bassat's alleged threats against the Hernandez family, a female juror sent a note to the judge asking if anyone was keeping track of who was coming in and out of the courtroom. She asked whether those visitors might be making observations about the jurors and expressed concern that someone who had been sitting in the trial watched her walk out of the courthouse at the lunch break.
Baltimore County Circuit Judge Vicki Ballou-Watts, who is presiding over the case, and the attorneys spoke privately with the juror.
The trial is scheduled to continue through Tuesday.
jennifer.mcmenamin@baltsun.com
