After two full days of deliberation, a federal jury found three men guilty Thursday of multiple murders and of running a lengthy drug conspiracy known as "Special" in Northeast Baltimore.
A second phase of the trial will begin Tuesday to determine whether two of the men -Melvin Gilbert, 34, and James Dinkins, 37 - should be put to death. A third defendant, Darron Goods, 24, faces a maximum of life in prison.
All three men were found guilty of drug conspiracy, selling heroin, cocaine, crack and marijuana. In addition:
* Goods and Gilbert were convicted of murdering witness John Dowery, who was gunned down at the Kozy Korner Bar on Thanksgiving Day in 2006.
* Dinkins and Gilbert were convicted of murdering Shannon Jemmison, who they thought was a law enforcement informant.
* Dinkins was found guilty of killing an associate, Michael Bryant.
* Gilbert was acquitted of one gun charge.
The trial was the third witness-murder trial held in Baltimore U.S. District Court this year, and the second where the death penalty is a consideration.
In April, a 61-year-old woman was sentenced to 33 years for killing an elderly man to prevent him from telling law enforcement about her many financial scams.
And last month, Patrick Albert Byers Jr.'s life was spared when jurors chose not to sentence him to death for the murder of a Baltimore County man, Carl Stanley Lackl.
Witness intimidation is a rampant problem in Baltimore City, where criminals routinely terrorize cooperators, whom they call "snitches." Gilbert's hatred for such informants led him to order Jemmison's murder, according to prosecutors. In a taped telephone conversation played in the courtroom, Gilbert called "rats" selfish and bemoaned how you can get "20 years for blasting one" and "five years" for telling a snitch not to do something.
The jury had asked three clarification questions Thursday afternoon, and all parties reassembled before the judge to work out the answer, then read it to the jury. As members were leaving to go back to their deliberation room, they said they might have other questions.
About 20 minutes passed before a knock came on the door. At 4:55 p.m., the jury announced that it had a verdict. There was no time to notify the families of the defendants or victims.
Goods shook his head as the verdicts were read, clearly upset. He untied his long dreadlocks, which had been pulled back in a ponytail for the trial, and untucked his pressed white shirt. During the trial, his attorneys had said he was just a small-time marijuana dealer and not associated with a conspiracy or any killings.
Gilbert and Dinkins stayed calm, with their eyes on the jury, though they refused to stand as members left the courtroom, as they've done for the duration of the multiweek trial.
The prosecution outlined a scenario during the trial in which Gilbert ran the drug ring and Dinkins was his enforcer, killing when asked or provoked, though both men denied the charges.
A defense attorney declined to comment, citing a rule that prevents certain press communication during a trial.
Prosecutors Kwame Manley and Debra Dwyer also declined to comment, though they didn't need to. Their reactions were visible: There was much back-slapping among their team members after the judge left, and Manley whooped and leaped in the air outside the courtroom near the elevators.
"We view this case not as just as one trial standing alone, but as part of a larger effort to combat gang violence in Baltimore," Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said in an interview. "When you look at it in conjunction with all the other work we've been doing ... it really presents a sustained effort."
He pointed to the conviction this spring of Byers, who was found guilty of ordering a witness murder from jail using a contraband cell phone. His office also participated in a lengthy investigation that led to an indictment, raids and the arrests of dozens of alleged Bloods gang members.
Thursday's convictions were particularly important to vindicate Dowery's murder and send a message about witness intimidation, Rosenstein said: "We're going to do everything in our power to make sure we hold perpetrators accountable."
