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Lawyer: Man Accused In Witness Slaying Is Innocent
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The suspect accused of plotting the murder of a witness from behind prison bars is back in federal court facing a possible death sentence if he is convicted.
Weijia Jiang has the latest in this landmark witness intimidation case.
A Baltimore drug dealer accused of orchestrating the death of a witness against him had no reason to kill the witness because he knew the state's murder case against him was weak, his attorney said Tuesday.
Patrick A. Byers Jr., 23, could face the death penalty if convicted in federal court of killing Carl S. Lackl Jr. He's accused of ordering the hit on Lackl and arranging to pay $2,500 for it, using a contraband cell phone to make calls from the city jail.
Lackl, a 38-year-old single father, was killed in a drive-by shooting in front of his home in suburban Rosedale in July 2007. He had been lured outside by phone calls about a car he was trying to sell.
"The fact that my brother was hunted--we're supposed to live in a civilized society but it happens every day," said Lackl's sister. "He was assassinated, pure and simple."
Lackl was supposed to have been the star witness in Byers' trial for the March 2006 shooting death of Larry Haynes, which had been scheduled to begin a week later.
The slaying of Lackl is viewed by many as an extreme example of Baltimore's culture of witness intimidation, and authorities around the country have cited it as a reason to jam cell phone signals in prisons.
Byers' attorney, William B. Purpura Jr., suggested in his opening statement Tuesday that others were responsible for the deaths of both Haynes and Lackl.
Haynes, who made his living robbing drug dealers, had many enemies, Purpura said. And the slaying of Lackl was planned and carried out by a rival of Byers, a member of the Bloods gang who didn't want Byers back on the street, Purpura said.
Marcus A. Pearson, who has pleaded guilty to his role in Lackl's death and plans to testify against Byers, told police that he had several "beefs" with Byers, including a dispute over a woman, Purpura said.
"I don't want him to come home," Pearson said of Byers, according to a partial transcript that Purpura showed jurors. Purpura also said Pearson lied to police countless times and that his testimony should not be trusted.
"Once a snake, always a snake," Purpura said. "Watch out for Mr. Pearson."
Purpura did not attempt to explain phone records that show frequent communication between Pearson, Byers and Byers' co-defendant, Frank K. Goodman, on the day Lackl was killed. But he noted that the conversations were not recorded and that cell phones are commonly passed around.
As for the earlier slaying, Purpura said DNA evidence from the handgun that killed Haynes pointed to another suspect, a man around Byers' age who was shot and killed last year. That man matched the height and weight of the man Lackl said he saw running from the scene and throwing away a gun. Lackl identified Byers in a photo lineup as the person he saw.
Byers had been unconcerned about the prospect of Lackl testifying against him, Purpura said.
"He knew that the case against him in Baltimore City Circuit Court was not a strong case," Purpura said.
Another man who told police that Byers killed Haynes, Joseph Parham, changed his story in April 2007, long before he formally recanted his statement in court last week, Purpura said.
Prosecutors revealed Monday that Parham recanted after several recent phone conversations with Byers, who had gotten hold of another contraband cell phone.
Purpura also offered a few details about Byers' background: His mother is a heroin addict, he was raised by his grandmother and his father, Patrick A. Byers Sr., spent much of Byers' childhood in federal prison. When the elder Byers was released, he introduced his son to drug dealing, Purpura said.
Goodman's attorney declined to give an opening statement. Goodman faces similar charges, but prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty.
The trial is expected to last two or three weeks.
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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