Witness

Basketball star Carmelo Anthony might have provided celebrity appeal in Stop Snitching, a witness-intimidation DVD for sale on the streets of Baltimore. But the character at the focus of the profanity-laced production has his own type of fame, one intertwined with West Baltimore's drug rings, their violence and law enforcement's efforts to crush them. He is Tyree Stewart, the man prosecutors say once ran a $50 million marijuana ring, now in prison under the U.S. Marshal's custody. His story gives a glimpse into the city's world of drugs, violence, prosecution and street culture.

Anne Arundel County Executive Laura A. Neuman has launched an investigation into allegations that county Police Chief Larry Tolliver used homophobic slurs and retaliated against officers whose testimony led to her predecessor's criminal conviction for misconduct. County Councilman Jamie Benoit called for the investigation in a letter to Neuman in which he recounted allegations from officers that Tolliver moved the detectives to less desirable positions and used the anti-gay term "fag.

A former Carroll assistant state's attorney who represented man charged with his fourth drunken-driving offense had helped to prepare the case against him, according to court records.David M. Littrell, who was asked to resign from the prosecutor's office on July 31, took on Timothy R. Angles as a client last month. Mr. Angles, who already had three drunken-driving convictions on his record, faced his fourth charge stemming from a one-car accident in January in which two people were injured.

A man raised the suspicions of several people at Villa Cresta Elementary School in Parkville on Monday after reportedly walking the perimeter of the school's property at the time of dismissal with what one witness said appeared to be a shotgun, according to Baltimore County Police. Police later identified the man and determined that he was carrying an unloaded, antique rifle, said Elise Armacost, a police spokeswoman, in a news release Tuesday. Police are unsure whether the rifle was operable, and the investigation continues, she said.

Federal prosecutors have identified the alleged mastermind of the killing of a witness in a Frederick drug case. In a court filing Friday, prosecutors said Steven Leroy Stone, 25, ordered the killing. They are asking a federal judge in Baltimore to sentence him to at least 25 years in prison Monday. Stone is the fourth of five defendants to be convicted in the death in July 2005 of David Wayne Lee Jr. Lee had been ordered to testify against Stone and others in a drug and weapons investigation.

A northern Harford County man pleaded guilty late last week to witness tampering and other charges related to thefts of copper from a home and wire from a construction site. Harford County State's Attorney Joseph Cassilly announced the Sept. 9 guilty plea of Aubrey Gerald Pritt, 39, of Street, who was charged with trying to influence a state's witness and related burglary and theft charges. Pritt received prison terms totaling more than a dozen years for the three convictions. According to a news release from Cassilly, Pritt was charged with burglary for entering a vacant home in Darlington and removing the copper piping and wiring.

In a pivotal day of testimony in the Phylicia Barnes murder trial, a 36-year-old petty criminal the defense has dismissed as a "jailhouse snitch" took the stand as one of the prosecution's key witnesses. James McCray, currently locked up in Charles County on a theft conviction, began his testimony by saying his name was actually Jason Lee and that he had drifted to Baltimore six years ago from New York and run an under-the-table business helping unqualified drivers get tags and titles.

Kareem Guest ignored the "stop snitching" credo, and authorities say his candid chatter to the FBI about drug dealers got him killed. The woman police say saw him get shot won't talk about it, and prosecutors have charged her with lying to a grand jury and want her imprisoned for 30 years. It is at first glance an all-too-familiar and tragic tale of witness intimidation and a demonstration of the collateral damage of Baltimore's epic drug war, but with a sardonic twist: The silence of one witness has thwarted efforts to make an arrest in the silencing of another.

Lawyers for the man convicted of killing Phylicia Barnes are again seeking to undermine the credibility of a small-time criminal who provided key state testimony in his trial, citing a letter from Montgomery County prosecutors detailing James McCray's removal as a witness in a separate murder case. The information, sent to Baltimore prosecutors on the day after Michael Maurice Johnson was found guilty of killing the visiting North Carolina teen, contains statements that the defense says shows McCray — whom they described at trial as a "jailhouse snitch" — is not reliable.

TASHIERA PETERSON spent the afternoon of her birthday in a Baltimore courtroom, perched on a chair too big for her, recounting an event too horrible to imagine - the murder of her father. She arrived in court despite an alleged plot to silence her, an 11-year-old girl. The 19-year-old man on trial in the shooting death of Russell Peterson is accused of ordering a hit on Tashiera and her mother to keep them from testifying. But this girl with the braided hair bravely walked into court last Friday, looking like the prospective fifth-grader that she is. Her white-cropped pants, spiffy white sneakers and crocheted poncho of pink, mauve and white stripes stood out against the mahogany hues of the courtroom.

Three moving trucks hauled furniture out of the city's Circuit Court buildings Saturday, as the Baltimore state's attorney's office left its century-old lodgings inside for an upgrade that prosecutors say will protect crime victims and witnesses. "This move represents a sea change in our operations that will substantially contribute to our efficacy and efficiency," State's Attorney Gregg L. Bernstein said. He added that he thanked the state and city "for recognizing the importance and need for space that will better position us to fight for the safety and security of our citizens.

A Baltimore judge threw out the murder conviction of a man who was to be sentenced Wednesday in the killing of 16-year-old Phylicia Barnes, saying prosecutors withheld information about a key witness from defense attorneys. The second-degree murder conviction of Michael Maurice Johnson, 29, last month had appeared to close the case of the North Carolina girl who disappeared while visiting family in Baltimore in 2010. But Circuit Judge Alfred Nance's ruling will give Johnson another chance to plead his innocence.

A few months after Maria Andrea Espejo Quezada arrived in Baltimore from Mexico nine years ago, her son and two of his young relatives were beaten, strangled and almost decapitated. She was the first witness to take the stand as the state tries for a third time to convict Policarpio Espinoza Perez, accused of carrying out the killings with his nephew Adan Canela. Quezada provided insight into the life of her immigrant family, answering questions about romantic advances from extended members and alleged threats from a former husband in Mexico.

Lawyers for the man convicted of killing Phylicia Barnes are again seeking to undermine the credibility of a small-time criminal who provided key state testimony in his trial, citing a letter from Montgomery County prosecutors detailing James McCray's removal as a witness in a separate murder case. The information, sent to Baltimore prosecutors on the day after Michael Maurice Johnson was found guilty of killing the visiting North Carolina teen, contains statements that the defense says shows McCray — whom they described at trial as a "jailhouse snitch" — is not reliable.

Relatives and friends of a young mother killed by a stray bullet on Labor Day weekend urged witnesses Saturday to come forward and help Baltimore police solve the crime. "People are little bit afraid," to talk to police, said Geron Mills, 23, as he and others gathered to note the six-month mark since LaRelle Ashlyn Amos died. "But you've got to put yourself in our shoes. " The 22-year-old Amos was shot Sept. 2, one victim of a bloody Baltimore weekend that saw 10 other people injured by gunfire and five more killed.

Wine is the theme right now at Wit & Wisdom, inside the Four Seasons Baltimore, and assistant general manager Justin Yu, 27, has been there to oversee it all. As part of Baltimore's 10-day Winter Wine Celebration, which concludes on Sunday, Wit & Wisdom has been offering specials and events, along with more than 20 other restaurants. Yu, a native of Fremont, Calif., relocated to Harbor East in May after working for Four Seasons in Santa Barbara, Calif., and Seattle. "Winter Wine Celebration is a great way for people to explore the sometimes unknown and vast world of wine," he said.

A 39-year-old man was sentenced to 22 years in prison on Monday for selling cocaine in West Baltimore after agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration intercepted drugs and a package containing more than $250,000 in cash. A jury convicted Gregory Alfred Whyte, also known as "Manny," after a six-day trial in U.S. District Court in Baltimore. Prosecutors said he was given a harsher sentence because he tried to intimidate a witness into recanting his testimony. The case began when federal agents in Los Angeles intercepted a refrigerator that was being sent to an address on North Fulton Avenue in Baltimore.

A MONTH AGO, a large mistake by small-minded people did us all a giant favor. When Sinclair Broadcast Group refused to broadcast Ted Koppel reading the names of 700-plus Americans killed in Iraq, we received a quickie lesson in the political implications of memory: how a fairly neutral act - noting the names of the fallen, one by one - can, stupidly, be perceived as overtly political. Yes, this is an election year, and we're surrounded by slogans and the bending of truth. But names are names and the fallen are the fallen, and shame upon those who tamper with the dignity and the honor of those serving, and dying, for the nation.

A judge delivered a major blow Monday to the state's case against two men accused of fatally slashing the throats of three children nine years ago, ruling that the testimony of a key witness is inadmissible. As prosecutors try for a third time next month to convict Policarpio Espinoza Perez, 31, and Adan Canela, 26, they'll have to do so without some important evidence and witnesses they used to secure a 2006 guilty verdict that was later thrown out by Maryland's top court. Circuit Judge M. Brooke Murdock told the prosecution that it may not use the statements of the woman who said in the earlier trials that she drove the men from work to the crime scene.

Attorneys for the man convicted of killing 16-year-old Phylicia Barnes have asked a judge for a new trial, arguing that prosecutors made improper statements to the jury and withheld information. Michael Maurice Johnson was convicted this month of second-degree murder in the death of Barnes, a North Carolina high school student, who was visiting relatives in Baltimore when she disappeared in December 2010. Most of the arguments made by Johnson's attorneys center on a crucial witness named James McCray, who testified that Johnson contacted him for help in disposing of Barnes' body.