Representing himself, Guy Thomas, age 36, was found guilty on Aug. 27, for the non-fatal shooting of another man at the Unit Block of North Howard Street outside a liquor store known as “The Bar.”
He was sentenced to 61 years in the same proceeding.
Thomas dismissed his lawyer, Andre Mahasa, who had requested a delay due to illness. Instead he went with a bench trial in front of Judge Cynthia H. Jones because he was unable to get clothing presentable to a jury.
A detective testified that 15 shell casings were found at the scene, and there is extensive surveillance footage captured by both local business and Baltimore CitiWatch cameras. He said they were able to find both footage of the incident itself, and track the defendant’s movements at the time of the shooting.
The police were allegedly able to identify the defendant due to distinctive purple boxers peeking out from underneath a grey hoodie, and were able to see him before the incident and after he fled the scene with a bloody foot, an injury received when the victim returned fire.
Police say they found that the defendant had made calls soon after the shooting, and were later able to track his phone number from another individual’s cell phone. When the defendant was arrested, he was reportedly wearing the same distinctive purple boxers as the night of the incident.
The prosecution’s closing arguments focused on the video said to be of the defendant shooting the victim, the gunshot wound the defendant suffered that they also caught on video, and the distinctive purple boxers.
The defendant argued that the state had shown insufficient proof that a gun was seen in the video, that the victim had failed to appear, and that the state had failed to determine the identity of the shooter who wounded Thomas’ foot.
Judge Jones ruled that the defendant was guilty of first-degree assault, armed robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery while armed, use of a firearm in a felony, and illegal possession of firearm with a previous felony conviction.
Thomas was sentenced to 61 years in jail in total, with all but 25 years suspended, and 10 years without parole. He was notified of his rights for further motions and appeals. He was also notified of his requirement to register under Baltimore’s Gun Offender Registry (GORA).
