A Baltimore man who had previously been sentenced to 90 years in prison for the murder of a 13-year old boy began his retrial before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge John S. Nugent on July 12.
In June 2016, 13-year-old Diandre Barnes was shot around 1:30 a.m. on the 900 block of Pennsylvania Avenue, Fox45 News reported. Barnes, who police say was not the intended target, was pronounced dead later that night at Maryland Shock Trauma, while the intended target was injured.
After being arrested by police two days after the incident occurred and later tried by a jury in February 2018, 31-year-old Anthony Clark Jr. was found guilty of second-degree murder and use of a firearm during a violent crime.
Clark’s attorney, Michael Cooper, filed for a retrial which was later granted by the Maryland Special Court of Appeals in April 2020.
The new trial was granted on the grounds that there was inadmissible hearsay in a detective’s testimony, a violation of Clark’s confrontation rights, and evidence admitted that was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.
Jurors were selected Tuesday and the trial is slated to continue on July 13 with opening statements.
