Defense Questions Witness Identification of Suspect

Thank you for reading Baltimore Witness. Help us continue our mission into 2024.

Closing statements were presented in the double attempted murder trial of 34-year-old Andre Brisbon on March 7. In the proceeding before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Althea M. Handy Brisbon was represented by attorney David Shapiro.

Brisbon is charged with two counts of attempted second-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault, reckless endangerment, firearm use in a felony violent crime, possessing a firearm with a felony conviction, illegal possession of a regulated firearm, having a handgun on his person, firing a gun within Baltimore City and illegal possession of a regulated firearm in relation to an incident that occurred April 4, 2023, on the the 3100 block of South Hanover Street.

The prosecutor said the night of the incident, officers from the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) saw Brisbon sprinting and later running back in the direction of the police. He was adding oddly, according to officers, then informed them about a car accident but didn’t mention a shooting.

Officers later spotted a gun allegedly belonging to the defendant in the bushes alongside a car with a bullet hole and containing bullet fragments. According to the police account, the gun was used by Brisbon in a road rage attack on two victims. He was, however, prohibited from owning firearms due to a prior conviction.

DNA tests of the weapon revealed the odds that the sample weren’t from Brisbon were in the billions.

According to Shapiro, the police had “plenty of time to do good, clean police work,” yet that didn’t happen.

For example, the firearm had traces of others’ DNA besides Brisbon’s. The defense claimed that contamination could have occurred because multiple people had touched the bullet casings.

The gun was also not brought in for testing until days later and no fingerprints were found even though the defendant was not wearing gloves, said Shapiro.

In addition, according to the defense, one victim told officers that “they” were shooting at her, indicating the presence of multiple people, not just Brisbon.

There was also a question about whether the prosecution prompted a witness to identify Brisbon as a suspect rather than relying on her own judgement.

The prosecution responded the defense’s conspiracy theory was contrary to the facts and credible witness testimony.