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By
Sage Cho
- January 28, 2025
Uncategorized
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As opening statements began in the jury trial of a defendant accused of pushing a man onto Metro tracks, defense attorney Andrea E. Jaskulsky claimed that her client acted in a bid to protect a fellow female passenger.
Joseph J. White III is charged with second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and first- and second-degree assault for an April 12, 2023 incident that occurred at approximately 4:45 p.m. in the Shot Tower Metro station by Port Discovery.
A previous Baltimore Police Department (BPD) press release alleged that White, who was 39 at the time of the incident, pushed 28-year-old Christopher Foster onto subway tracks at the station before fleeing the scene.
Prior to the incident, Foster, who had significant levels of alcohol in his system, was said to have sat next to a female passenger “who may have not wanted him to sit there,” said the prosecution.
Jaskulsky alleged that White pushed Foster, whom she claimed was “threatening the woman on the train,” onto the tracks to protect the unnamed passenger. She said the action was a result of White experiencing a “fight-or-flight” response.
“He came to the rescue of this woman,” said Jaskulsky.
The prosecution presented video evidence from the metro station’s CCTV system that captured a man presumed to be White pushing Foster twice. The second push caused him to fall four-and-a-half feet onto the electrified tracks, where his body was seen convulsing, then still.
Baltimore Witness previously reported that officers arrested White at a hotel in South Ozone Park, N.Y. on May 17 and extradited him to Baltimore City. His trial was postponed on Oct. 15, 2024 after his original defense attorney, James Sweeting III, was unable to attend the hearing.
Several witnesses were summoned to testify before the jury, including a Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) video surveillance technician, MTA technical services supervisor and an officer from the MTA criminal investigations unit.
Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Cynthia H. Jones presided over the trial.