Defense Says No Sufficient Evidence to Convict Attempted Murder Defendant

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Opening statements began on Sept, 20, in the trial for a 24-year-old Baltimore man charged with attempted murder before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Jennifer B. Schiffer.

The prosecution stated the victim and the defendant Carroll Carter were in an intimate relationship in 2018 and broke up towards the end of the year. Carter contacted the victim to talk after the breakup, the prosecutor continued, but the conversation allegedly escalated, and ultimately the woman was left shot.

The victim testified that she received a call from an unknown number; it was Carter saying he wanted to talk. When Carter arrived at her residence, she said he persuaded her out of her apartment and proceeded in argumentation.

Carter then took out a silver gun, the victim testified and held it to her head. She said she pushed the gun away, which caused Carter to drop the bullet. After reloading the gun, he shot her in the neck, leaving her crawling to the door of her residents.

The victim described how she tried to scream for help but physically was unable to.

After the shooting, the victim said she saw Carter leave in the black Nissan.

After being shot, the victim was taken to the University of Maryland Medical Center. She was later diagnosed with nerve damage in her right hand, right arm, and a paralyzed right vocal cord.

Carter is charged with first and second-degree attempted murder, first and second-degree assault, reckless endangerment, use of a firearm during a felony violent crime, possession of a firearm with a felony conviction, and malicious destruction of property valued at less than $1,000.

Following the victim’s testimony, a Baltimore police sergeant walked jurors through his body camera footage showing him tending to the victim following the shooting on the 3900 block of West North Avenue.

The video showed the victim lying on the ground, bleeding out, as the officer tried to address the wounds. The sergeant testified that he asked the victim who shot her and the victim said it was Carter, as well as gave his date of birth.

“The video was key evidence in this case,” said the prosecutor.

The crime scene technician testified that she collected a .38 caliber casing from the scene and the blood samples.

A couple of days after the shooting Carter was taken into custody in Harford County after a traffic stop. A deputy testified to pulling Carter over in a blue Nissan, contradicting the victim’s testimony that she saw the defendant leave in a black car.

In the vehicle, police found a Bersa .38 semi-automatic gun in the purse of one of the two passengers with him that day.

Carter was immediately arrested while the gun was sent to a Baltimore City crime lab.

Both sides closed their cases in one day of trial. The defense requested all charges be dropped, saying there was not enough evidence against Carter.

There were no blood samples recovered, and there were Virginia plates on the vehicle that was recovered in Harford County while police were looking for a car with Maryland plates in Baltimore, argued the defense.

He said there is no concrete evidence of the defendant being anywhere near the victim that day since no weapon was recovered on the scene, also reminding the jury that the phone call the victim received was from an unknown number.

The jury entered deliberations that evening on the charges of first and second-degree attempted murder, possession of a firearm, and reckless endangerment.

Get more information on this case here.