Jury

A Circuit Court Jury on Friday found a 34-year-old man guilty of first-degree murder for fatally shooting a man in East Baltimore in the summer of 2010, according to the city State's Attorney's Office. Antonio Moore, of the 400 block of North Robinson St., faces up to life plus 25 years in prison when he is sentenced June 20. Prosecutors said he got into an argument with Avon Beasley on June 12, 2010, in the 200 block of North Rose St. The suspect left but returned 20 minutes later on a bicycle, took out a .25 caliber handgun and shot Beasley in the chest.

A Baltimore jury on Wednesday awarded $1.3 million in damages to a 17-year-old girl, finding that negligence by the Housing Authority of Baltimore City was a substantial factor in lead-paint poisoning she suffered as a young girl. Amafica Woodland lived in a now-demolished house in the Flag House Courts housing project in East Baltimore until she was nearly 3. Her attorney, Scott Nevin, said he expected the award to be reduced to $690,000 because of a state cap on non-economic damages.

Prosecutors want the jury deciding the fate of political consultant Julius Henson to focus on one piece of evidence: the robocall he orchestrated on Election Day 2010 that told Democrats in Baltimore and Prince George's County to "relax" and stay home. That call — which prosecutors say Republican former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s campaign used in an attempt to suppress black votes — is the "primary evidence in the case," said Maryland State Prosecutor Emmet C. Davitt during opening statements Tuesday.

Avi and Eliyahu Werdesheim, Jewish brothers accused of beating a black teen while guarding their Park Heights neighborhood, withdrew a request to change the court venue Tuesday and elected to move forward with a Baltimore trial by judge, waiving their right to be heard by a jury of their peers. They had previously complained that media coverage of their case, coupled with comparisons to the Florida shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, who was gunned down by a zealous neighborhood watch captain, made it impossible to impanel a fair jury in the city.

Baltimore prosecutors lost two tough cases this week - the animal cruelty trial of twin brothers charged with setting a pit bull on fire, and the trial of a man accused of killing two girls in a hit-and-run on Martin Luther King Boulevard.  Sun reporter Scott Dance covered both cases. First, today's verdict in the hit-and-run case , where prosecutors had secured a guilty plea from a co-defendant in exchange for her testimony against the alleged driver:  "Two jurors said after the trial they doubted who was driving - Dunn or his girlfriend, key witness Kendra Myles - when two teenage girls were struck and tossed more than 100 feet.

It took jurors only about an hour Wednesday to find brothers Travers and Tremayne Johnson not guilty of setting a pit bull on fire — a fraction of the 20 hours jurors spent in the twins' first trial, unable to agree on a verdict. Family members were overjoyed. But the not guilty verdicts on the four charges against each brother were bittersweet for the Johnsons and their relatives, who have maintained throughout the trials that the twins are innocent. "That they defamed someone's character at such a young age is very troubling," said Camille Mills, a cousin of the defendants who joined their mother and siblings in court.

A 50-year-old man was convicted Friday by a Baltimore Circuit Court jury of robbing and murdering a beverage delivery man last June. William Carr faces life in prison plus 45 years. His sentencing is scheduled for May. The jury, which deliberated for less than three hours, found Carr guilty of first-degree murder, armed robbery and related charges for killing Chong Wan Yim, 55. Officials said Carr approached Yim at the Erdman Shopping Center in the 3900 block of Erdman Avenue at about 3 p.m. on June 28, 2011 with a handgun and demanded money.

Trayvon Martin was shot to death for walking through a white neighborhood with a hoodie on. The white man who shot him claimed it was self-defense even though the boy was not armed and not even within arms distance of the man. George Zimmerman should be arrested for taking another man's life. He should be tried for removing a son from a mother's arms. Allow a jury of peers decide whether it was self defense or whether it was shooting without warrant. Do not allow this man to go free without paying the family for his error.

From Luke Broadwater: A key witness in the case against Travers and Tremayne Johnson, who are accused of burning a pit bull puppy named Phoenix, abruptly refused to testify Tuesday, causing a judge to sentence her to six months in jail. Tiera Goodman, 25, of the 800 block of Braddish Ave., witnessed Phoenix as she was fatally burned in 2009, and testified during the first trial, which ended in a hung jury, that she saw the 20-year-old Johnson twins running from the scene. But Goodman, who is incarcerated on unrelated charges and initially identified the Johnsons to receive a $1,000 reward, charged her attitude from helpful to obstinate Tuesday.

A jury in Frederick County has awarded a family $620,000 after sheriff's deputies shot a pet dog in January 2010. The officers had been trying to serve a civil warrant on the dog owner's son, who no longer lived at the house. Deputy Timothy Brooks and his boss, Sheriff Chuck Jenkins, decried the verdict in a story published in the Frederick Post, saying their full story was not heard. Jenkins said the deputies "were doing their job. " But the attorney for the family, Cary J. Hansel, said that "from now on, police officers are on notice that they should think twice before using deadly force against a family pet. " The deputies said the dog, Brandi, a chocolate Labrador retriever, lunged at them as they entered the home.