Witness

Friday was Avon Ball's first night off "the box," finally finished with court-ordered home monitoring and ready to hit the town. "Who with me?" he posted on Facebook. But police said he didn't make it home. He and a friend were involved in an argument early Saturday at a downtown club, and detectives believe they were followed to the intersection of Madison Avenue and West Preston Street, where they were shot multiple times. Ball, 26, died at an area hospital, and his unidentified friend was critically injured.

Isiah Calloway's death was reported in a single sentence back in April, a 19-year-old man "found shot inside a vehicle. " To federal authorities, though, Calloway was a potential witness in a bank fraud conspiracy. That is, until prosecutors say, his own attorney divulged sensitive information to his alleged partner. On Tuesday, the Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office announced the indictment of the partner and another man in Calloway's death . At the center of the allegations is the attorney, who was not charged, and who told The Sun's Justin Fenton that he did nothing wrong.

Federal prosecutors indicted drug dealer Jose Joaquin Morales for ordering the 2008 killing of Robert Long, a witness against him in a theft case, just weeks after a man originally convicted of the murder had his conviction vacated. Morales is serving a 20-year prison term after pleading guilty to federal drug charges. Another man, Demetrius Smith of Baltimore, was convicted in state court of Long's murder in 2010. Smith maintained that he was innocent, and the City Paper reported in August that a new trial was ordered and his case quietly dropped when new information emerged in a federal investigation.

A new ad released Monday by Baltimore State's Attorney candidate Gregg Bernstein attacks the incumbent, Patricia C. Jessamy, saying she refuses to prosecute crimes when there is only one witness. The ad features Doris Dangerfield, whose 21-year-old son Angelo was shot to death in November 2009 outside their Cherry Hill home, wiping tears from her eyes and questioning why the suspects were let go. "The suspects they had, she's letting them go because they only had one eyewitness," Dangerfield says as she sits at a table and a graduation picture of her son is shown.

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 that she saw the 20-year-old Johnson twins running from the scene. The case is being retried after the previous trial ended in a hung jury.

A Baltimore man was sentenced Friday for his role in the death of a witness in a bank fraud investigation. Frank Marfo, 28, received life in prison after being convicted of murder, gun, and fraud conspiracy charges. The victim, 19-year-old Isaiah Callaway, had been accused of working for Marfo and his partner, Tavon Davis, 25, who had concocted a scheme to hire homeless men to steal rent checks and deposit them in fake bank accounts, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Callaway was arrested by Baltimore County Police opening one of the bank accounts and was later killed on Davis' orders, fearing Callaway would cooperate with the police, officials said.

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 55-year-old man operating an unauthorized cab in Baltimore witnessed a passenger's arrest, according to prosecutors, then turned down a bribe to give false testimony in the case. Months later, he was shot to death in front of the suburban home he shared with his elderly mother. City and Baltimore County prosecutors revealed the details of the 2011 killing of Ronald Givens on Thursday as they announced the murder indictments of four men, three of whom were also charged with conspiracy, witness intimidation and obstruction of justice.

Two key witnesses in the fatal shooting of the nephew of a city judge have recanted their statements on the witness stand - leaving the prosecutor with no physical evidence and one unwavering eyewitness to the killing, the victim's best friend. Tevon Allen, 19, is on trial this week on a charge of first-degree murder in the July 2007 killing of Jordan Brown, the nephew of Baltimore District Judge Videtta A. Brown, in a case that has been a test from the start. In opening statements, prosecutor Lisa Phelps warned jurors that two witnesses might change their stories.

PRINCE GEORGE'S County Del. Joseph F. Vallario Jr. needs to stop thinking like a defense attorney. He's made his point that the Ehrlich administration's bill to address witness intimidation infringes on a defendant's right to cross-examine a witness. But supporters of the measure are willing to compromise on the kinds of statements that can be used at trial without the presence of the witness. Why? Because lives and the integrity of the criminal justice system are at stake. It's that simple.