Counsel rested their cases on March 27 in a 2024 shooting trial, with the defense attempting to poke holes in the state’s investigation and the prosecution urging jurors to exercise common sense in finding 20-year-old Anthony Berry guilty of the crime.
Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge LaZette C. Ringgold-Kirksey presided over the trial, which centered on a Feb. 18, 2024 shooting that occurred outside a Krispy Krunchy Chicken restaurant located in Fells Point. Berry faces charges of attempted murder, assault and reckless endangerment, as well as several gun offenses in connection to the incident.
Two victims were left injured in the aftermath, one of whom was hospitalized for one week. His treatment records, according to the state, “were binder-long.”
“It’s a miracle [he] survived,” the state said.
The state’s case hinged on a significant amount of surveillance footage recovered from the area surrounding the 400 block of S. Broadway, as well as cellphone location data and text messages Berry sent the day after the shooting.
Jurors were shown the text messages, one of which allegedly showed Berry telling a contact named “Fat Money” that he wanted $700 in exchange for the gun he was suspected to have used in the shooting. “Bro, I need a trade ASAP,” he told Fat Money.
“He is trying to get rid of the gun,” the state’s attorney said.
When investigators arrived at Berry’s house in October to execute a search warrant, he reportedly asked detectives if he could first make a call. The state’s attorney called the question a clear indicator of Berry’s “consciousness of guilt.”
Meanwhile, defense attorney Natalie Finegar pointed to perceived flaws in the state’s investigation, as well as their failure to summon several key parties to testify at trial. She asked jurors to consider why they had not heard from the detective who identified Berry as the shooter, nor from the two victims of the shooting.
In rebuttal, the state’s attorney pushed back against Finegar’s claims and urged jurors to exercise their common sense in considering her questions. “It’s not crazy that people don’t want to cooperate with the police or put a target on their backs,” the state’s attorney contended.
The absence of these three witnesses, she continued, should not detract from the validity of physical, forensic or cellular evidence that pointed to Berry’s guilt, nor from the hours of video footage that allegedly captured him at the scene. “It doesn’t change anything,” she concluded.
Jurors began deliberating after lunch recess.
