Defense Attorney Says Suspect Was a Customer, Not a Shooter

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“The state is accusing my client just to find a defendant,” a defense attorney said during his closing argument on June 6 in Baltimore City Circuit Court.

Jerry Prince, the defense attorney for 40-year-old Charles Edwards, restated to a jury what he’s believed this whole time, that Edwards is not guilty of the nine charges against him.

Edwards is accused of the Aug. 25, 2023, armed robbery of a Burger King on the 1200 block of West North Avenue, wherein he allegedly threatened and pointed a firearm at a cashier. He also faces counts of robbery, first-degree assault, second-degree assault, firearm use in a felony violent crime, firing a gun in Baltimore City, illegal possession of a regulated firearm, reckless endangerment and theft of $100 up to $1,500.

The prosecution alleged in their closing statement that Edwards was in fact the person who committed the robbery on surveillance camera. Edwards’s fingerprints were allegedly found on the door at the Burger King and there were no other suspects in the case, he said.

Prince rebuffed the prosecution’s claims, saying that it made sense that Edward’s hands were on the door because he was a customer and employed there at one point. However, none of the witnesses said they thought the person who committed the robbery was Edwards. He argued the prosecution didn’t investigate the case fully and just chose Edwards because they needed a defendant.

Edwards’s case was heard before Judge Alan C. Lazerow. The jury began deliberating Thursday.