UNDER SCRUTINY
Maryland high court considers limiting firearm testimony used to link specific guns to shootings
A television in Baltimore Circuit Court showed a magnified picture of spent cartridge casings taken through the lens of a microscope. If a juror didn’t look closely, they might confuse two rounds for one.
Half the image showed a casing found on a sidewalk in Southwest Baltimore, where a man and woman were killed early on a frigid morning in November 2019; the other half showed a casing test-fired from a handgun confiscated later that day from one of the defendants.
Tiny, nondescript dents and scratches in the metal, a city firearm examiner testified at the man’s trial in August, were left by the gun that fired those rounds. Look carefully, Christopher Faber told the jury, at “lines, or striations, that are continuously flowing from one cartridge casing to the next.”
What Faber said next goes to the heart of a question before Maryland’s highest court: Should experts like him be allowed to testify that a specific gun fired a specific bullet? Or should they be limited to saying that a gun cannot be ruled out as having fired the projectile in question?
The court is considering a murder case in Prince George’s County that also used firearm “tool mark” analysis as evidence, and the appeal adds to a national groundswell of challenges to the field. There is no timeline for the Maryland high court’s ruling, but its decision could be significant. Such evidence regularly plays a role in shooting cases. Not including suicide, an average of 462 people are killed with firearms every year in Maryland, and many more are shot, according to the nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety.
Baltimore leaders past and present are hopeful Moore can usher in better cooperation between the city and Annapolis. Hogan has butted heads with Baltimore mayors during his tenure, beginning in his early days, when he called in the Maryland National Guard in response to unrest over the 2015 death of Freddie Gray of injuries suffered during his arrest by city police.
In his 2020 memoir, Hogan characterized his actions as a necessity in the absence of strong leadership from Democratic Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. The governor touted that response again as recently as Wednesday, when a video compilation of his time in office played at a fundraising rally for a possible White House run.
“We were going to keep the people of Baltimore safe,” Hogan declares in the video, “and we were going to return calm and law and order to the city.”
Just months after calling in the guard, Hogan ruffled city feathers again, tweeting a map of transportation projects across Maryland that omitted the city and made where the city lies appear to be part of the Chesapeake Bay. The tweet was quickly deleted, but the incident was not lost on City Hall.
Kaliope Parthemos, Rawlings-Blake’s chief of staff, said Wednesday Hogan’s attitude toward the city was palpable.
“You could feel the disdain,” she said. “It’s extremely important we have a governor who looks at Maryland as a whole and will include Baltimore City as part of that.”
The give-and-take between Hogan and Baltimore has continued into the administration of Democratic Mayor Brandon Scott. The pair have traded barbs — Hogan targeting Scott for his goal of reducing spending on police and Scott needling Hogan for refusing to offer “meaningful” assistance and for eliminating funding for the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, a group of city, state and federal officials that discusses public safety strategies.
Asked about the relationship, Hogan communications director Michael Ricci said in a statement: “No administration has been a more active partner in providing support and resources to Baltimore. That commitment never wavered over the course of four mayors and five police commissioners, even in the face of obstruction on serious issues — particularly with regards to holding violent offenders accountable.
“People try to make this about personalities,” Ricci wrote, “but it’s important to not allow politics to get in the way of getting things done.”
His four-page document cited Hogan administration efforts to help the city with crime, criminal justice reform, economic revitalization, education, health care, housing, tourism, transportation and youth.
Thinking about Moore, Scott said he looks forward to a governor who believes in Baltimore.
“We can raise our entire state and city up, but doing it in a way where it’s not just about talking points, wagging a finger or coming in on a white horse, but working in deep partnership each and every day,” Scott said.
Scott joined City Hall as a staffer in 2007, when then-Mayor O’Malley took the governor’s seat. Scott said having a governor with a direct connection to Baltimore cannot be underestimated.
“You can’t escape what that means,” Scott said. “The understanding of the city’s issues, the understanding of the city’s people, what actually happened versus what folks are saying on the TV.”
Anticipating ‘aspirational’ approach Parthemos said she expects Moore to bring a different
approach to the governor’s office. Moore comes from a background in finance and foundations. He’ll likely surround himself with people who have an “aspirational” view of government, she said.
Parthemos said she anticipates Moore will recognize the importance of Baltimore without singling the city out for favors.
“It doesn’t mean the city shouldn’t be held accountable,” she said. “But you have to come from a starting place of, ‘Look, I am here to help you, I am here to support you, and I know that my help and support will do nothing but improve your condition.’ ”
As governor, of course, Moore will be responsible for the entire state, and plenty of people will be looking for help, from the tip of the Eastern Shore to the western panhandle to the populous political power centers of Howard, Montgomery and Prince George’s counties.
Republican Del. Jason Buckel of Allegany County, the minority leader in the Maryland House chamber, said Moore needs a willingness to upend the status quo.
“I hope that Gov.-elect Moore will recognize that two of Baltimore City’s biggest obstacles to growth and renewed prosperity are the terrible level of crime, including serious violent crime, and the school system that far too often has failed the children and families. Baltimore has seen at least 300 homicides a year for eight consecutive years.
“Marylanders across the state want to see Baltimore City succeed. I lived or worked there for almost a decade — I want to see it succeed. The status quo mixed with ‘more money’ isn’t the solution,” Buckel said.
Moore said he plans to work with city officials to prioritize “certain challenges that the city is seeing” regarding transit, issues within the public school system, economic growth and concerns about public safety. For instance, Moore has committed to re-establishing the red line light rail project in the city, scrapped by Hogan in 2015.
“If we can do those things in partnership, I know that it’s not just that Baltimore’s best days are ahead, but … Maryland’s best days are ahead, as well,” he said.
Moore, a former White House fellow during the Bush administration, has found common ground with state and federal leaders, including Democratic President Joe Biden, who appeared with him twice on the campaign trail.
Moore said his “strong relationship with members of the Biden administration” and partnership with the federal government will help as he works to improve Maryland schools, transportation and infrastructure.
As Democratic lawmakers look forward to an ally
Members of the Democratic-controlled General Assembly, which will convene for its 90-day legislative session a week ahead of his Jan. 18 inauguration, also are looking forward to having an ally in Moore.
Sen. Jill Carter, a Democrat representing portions of Northwest Baltimore, said Moore has made clear he is committed to the city’s economic development and improvements to its transportation and criminal justice systems.
“Wes Moore wants to lift people up instead of lock people up,” Carter said.
Moore campaigned in part on offering a publicly funded yearof-service option for high school seniors without post-graduation plans. Ferguson said the General Assembly has arranged for the Maryland Corps program to provide service opportunities and scholarships for Marylanders aged 17 to 23.
Beyond the proposed service year, Ferguson said that equitable transportation, expanded mental health care and filling staffing shortages among state government agencies are at the top of his list as he collaborates with Moore over the next term.
Ultimately, Ferguson believes that city and state leaders will have “greater collaboration” with the Moore administration in addressing issues residents face and “efforts of revitalization” in Baltimore.
“There will be a willingness to support and lead where it makes sense, and there’s a lot of state assets and state resources that exist inside the city,” he said. “A lot of the time I think the city [under Hogan] was a bit more of an afterthought or seen as a problem as opposed to … being this incredible asset for the state of Maryland — that, in order for the state to thrive, the city has to thrive.”