Mar 24, 2009 6:26 am US/Eastern
Prosecutors: Alleged Killer Called Another Witness
BALTIMORE (WJZ) ―
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A federal jury is hearing arguments in the case against Patrick Byers, who is accused of orchestrating the slaying of a witness against him.
It was the bombshell dropped in a Baltimore courtroom during the trial of a man accused of ordering the murder of a witness set to testify against him. Prosecutors say a smuggled cell phone was found hidden in the defendant's jail cell last week.
Mary Bubala explains that phone may have been used to intimidate another witness.
Secrecy and security surround the witness slaying trial in Baltimore City. The co-defendant, Patrick Byers, faces death if found guilty of hiring Bloods gang members to kill Carl Lackl.
"My son is not a monster," said Byers' mother, Karen Cole.
In 2006, Lackl identified Byers in the murder of Larry Haynes. Byers was charged and imprisoned. Then, days before the trial, Lackl was killed outside his home. Last February, Byers and three others were charged with conspiracy and murder. The government said Byers made 11,000 illegal calls from a smuggled cell phone in jail to set up the hit.
There was another surprise in court.
In his opening statement, the prosecutor said the state had just learned Byers obtained a second cell phone while in jail. He says Byers used that phone to call another witness in the trial against him, the same one Lackl would have testified in.
Now that witness has changed his story.
The Baltimore State's Attorney's Office can't talk about the case but says witness intimidation jeopardizes cases every day.
"One of our concerns as prosecutors is that when witness intimidation can occur, it can mean that a defendant who is actually guilty will be returned to the community," said Marty Burns, spokesperson for the State's Attorney's Office.
Lingering effects of the Stop Snitching video popularized in Baltimore have caused witnesses and even victims to evade police and court hearings out of fear.
"We see this as the number one threat to public safety in Baltimore," Burns said.
Lackl's family did not want to talk after court, but questions asked from the beginning still linger.
"How was he able to get that out of Baltimore City lockup? That's still the last lingering question. How was he able to do it?" said Lackl's sister.
In keeping with tight security, U.S. marshals escorted jurors to their cars. Tuesday. They'll meet at an off-site location to be escorted back into court for the opening statement from the defense.
The prosecution links a total of eight people under the age of 30 to this murder. The alleged shooter may testify.
The other person facing charges, Frank Goodman, faces life in prison if found guilty.
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