Convicted hit man James Dinkins fired a string of slurs at a federal prosecutor Tuesday morning, calling the man a "bootlicker" and warning him to "stay away" from the defense side.
The outburst came shortly before the jury entered the federal courtroom for the sentencing phase of Dinkins' trial, which will determine whether he and co-defendant Melvin Gilbert live or die. Both East Baltimore men were found guilty last week of murdering three men, including two witnesses, and running a drug conspiracy.
The explosion set a tense tone that never let up.
The mothers of three victims broke down on the stand, one saying that Dinkins had threatened her during the trial. A 12-year-old girl's testimony about her murdered uncle led jurors to weep. And the prosecution showed video of a courthouse fight between the defendants and a cooperating witness, which resulted after federal marshals mistakenly placed the men in the same cell.
The testimony is expected to last through the week, with prosecutors presenting aggravating factors they say warrant death and the defense offering mitigating factors that it contends call for mercy. Gilbert's lawyer told of his client's childhood experience with drug dealing. And Dinkins' attorney outlined an upbringing so bleak that audience members shook their heads in disbelief.
The jury will likely begin its deliberations next week.
Defense attorneys are relying on the same tack - and many of the same witnesses - offered earlier this year in the death penalty trial of Patrick Byers Jr., an East Baltimore man who was also convicted of murdering a witness but ultimately spared the death sentence. Like Byers' attorneys, they plan to argue that the defendants are products of their environments and had few options in life.
Many of the details presented during this phase are about things that the jurors weren't previously allowed to know, such as the jail cell fight, which took place after U.S. marshals mistakenly put a prisoner witness in the same cell as the defendants. No one was seriously hurt, and it's unclear from the video who started it.
Jury members are unlikely to learn about Dinkins' interjections Tuesday, however. Judge J. Frederick Motz said he wouldn't allow testimony about them unless something similar happens.
Dinkins verbally attacked Assistant U.S. Attorney Kwame Manley twice, first calling him a "coward" and telling him to "stop lying." Later, when Manley walked toward the defense table, Dinkins cursed him.
