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By
Andrew Michaels
, Alyssia Davis [former] - April 3, 2023
Court
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Daily Stories
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Homicides
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Shooting
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Suspects
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Victims
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Defense counsel for homicide defendant Sean Melton Jr. argued that the prosecution did not use a witness’ description of the shooter during trial as it did not match her client.
Melton, 30, was on trial for the murder of 43-year-old Robert Davis on the 2300 block of North Fulton Avenue on June 24, 2019. The jury found Melton not guilty of first and second-degree murder and three weapons charges on March 31, less than a day after deliberations.
During closing arguments on Friday, defense attorney Linda Zeit told jurors that a 911 caller gave Baltimore Police a 20-minute statement, describing the shooter. However, when the detective testified, he left out the witness’ description, which Zeit said would not have matched the description of her client.
“This puzzle completely exploded,” she said. “[The detective] doesn’t follow police policy. What other policies aren’t you covering?”
Melton’s case was “rushed to close it,” Zeit concluded.
“If [the detective] tried to hide evidence, how would we know about [the 911 caller]?” the prosecutor countered during her closing rebuttal. “[The detective] did his job and didn’t try to hide it.”
Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Christopher Panos presided over the trial.