Jurors in the animal cruelty case against brothers Travers and Tremayne Johnson will resume deliberations Friday morning, after spending nine hours Thursday considering the case.
The jury must decide whether the 18-year-old twins set fire to a pit bull known as "Phoenix" in 2009, then ran away, as the prosecution says — or whether the defendants have been made fall guys by Baltimore police, who were under pressure from outraged animal welfare advocates to close the case, as the defense argues.
Jurors began deliberations about 1 p.m. Thursday and were dismissed shortly before 10 p.m.
Prosecutors had spent that morning — the fifth day of trial — highlighting the evidence, while the defense team pointed to the lack of it.
Prosecutors Jennifer Rallo and Janet Hankin systematically connected the dots in their circumstantial case and asked the jury to consider the testimony of their key witness, city police Sgt. Jarron Jackson, akin to that of a reporter: someone who watches and interprets information.
Jackson, who said he's been watching the brothers since 2008, identified them as being with Phoenix on a blurry surveillance video, based on their mannerisms and general appearance, though the figures are far away and their faces are not visible.
He and another witness, Teara Goodman, say the Johnsons are the two males seen in the video running from the mouth of an alley on Presbury Street, seconds after Phoenix is spotted there on fire. And it's their graffiti tags that are inside the vacant building where the dog was supposedly housed.
Travers lied to police about his whereabouts the day of the May 27, 2009, crime, prosecutors say. And Tremayne Johnson is clearly visible on the video at one point, they say, sneaking a quick look at the commotion caused by the fire and immediately — and suspiciously — turning and briskly walking away, as others gawk.
Defense lawyers used that same portion of the video to argue for Tremayne's innocence. If he were indeed running from the scene in one direction two minutes earlier, as Jackson said, how could he then calmly walk up the street from another direction, asked Assistant Public Defender Karyn Meriweather, who represents Tremayne.
"Unless he's Superman … how can you possibly explain his appearance at that time?" Meriweather said.
She provided a list of 41 things that the police allegedly failed to do in the investigation. They did not preserve the crime scene, she said; they waited a week to assign an investigator; they didn't collect important evidence; and they didn't investigate other suspects.
Prosecutors pointed out a third potential participant in the crime, seen running in a different direction from the other two males, during their closing arguments Thursday morning. But they had no information on the person's identity.
"The state does not want you to focus on the evidence in this case," said defense attorney Sharon May, who represents Travers. "The state set the stage for you to focus just on the emotional aspect and the horror of this case."
It is horrible, both sides agree.
A young dog was doused in some kind of accelerant and set on fire. Her eyes melted, the bottoms of her feet were burned, her skin flaked away and the interior of her mouth was full of sores. She suffered for five days, until her body gave out and rescue workers euthanized her.
And someone should pay for the crime, they concur. But they're predictably split on who that is.
Video time sequences
11:50:56 a.m.: A man hands over Phoenix by leash to two males, identified as Travers and Tremayne Johnson by Baltimore police Sgt. Jarron Jackson.
11:51:06: The male identified by police as Travers kicks the dog.
11:51:50: The two males and the dog walk down Presbury Street toward an alley.
11:57:14: Witness Teara Goodman stands in the street near a convenience store.
11:58:03: Two males, identified by Goodman as the Johnson brothers, run from the direction of the alley.
11:58:09: First view of Phoenix on fire, near the mouth of the alley, which is obscured by bushes.
11:59:11: Officer Syreeta Teel uses her sweater to smother Phoenix's flames.
12:00:01: A male identified by Jackson as Tremayne appears to check out the situation and quickly leaves, turning to face the surveillance cameras, which capture a close-up.
Source: Trial testimony
