The trial of 31-year-old Dionte Cain continued on Oct. 2 before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Kimberly C. McBride, with both sides delivering closing arguments.
As the jury prepared to deliberate on charges of attempted murder and armed robbery stemming from an April 2024 shooting.
The prosecution opened by telling jurors it was her job to convince them beyond a reasonable doubt, stressing that circumstantial evidence carries the same weight as direct testimony.
She pointed to ballistics evidence linking the gun recovered from Cain to the weapon used in the shooting, as well as the testimony of Darnell Johnson, 29, who is Cain’s co-defendant in the case, said Cain admitted to shooting the victim on the 3900 block of Greenmount Avenue.
Johnson pleaded guilty to conspiracy to armed robbery, accessory after the fact, and loaded handgun in vehicle on April 18.
Johnson, she argued, was not coerced and did not receive any promises from the prosecution.
“He asked the defendant after the incident, ‘Why did you shoot him?’” the prosecution reminded jurors, adding that Cain later fled a traffic stop with the same weapon still in his possession. She emphasized that Cain’s claim of self-defense did not align with the evidence.
Defense attorney Natalie Finegar countered that Johnson was an unreliable witness who testified only to secure a plea deal. She argued his statements were riddled with inconsistencies and that investigators failed to properly preserve the crime scene or pursue warrants that could have provided clearer evidence.
Finegar also told jurors that ballistics evidence alone did not meet the prosecution’s burden and urged them to focus on whether the evidence truly proved guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
In their rebuttal, the prosecution told jurors not to be distracted by inconsistencies, reminding them that forensic testimony tied the recovered gun to the shooting and that Johnson’s account was consistent with Cain’s own admission.
“Mr. Cain clearly said, ‘I shot him,’” she said, asking the jury to rely on both the evidence and their common sense.
The jury began deliberations following the closings. Deliberations are expected to continue on Oct. 3.
