Defense Questions Detective’s ID of Defendant

By Alyssia Davis [former] - May 20, 2022
Attempted Murder | Court | Daily Stories | Shooting | Suspects |

During closing arguments May 19, a defense attorney questioned the validity of a detective’s identification of the defendant.

The ongoing trial of a 20-year-old Baltimore resident accused of first-degree attempted murder came to an end with closing arguments and jury deliberation on May 19 before

Kahi Richard, 20, is charged with first-degree attempted murder, conspiracy to first-degree murder, first-degree assault, conspiracy to first-degree assault, use of a firearm during a violent crime, two counts of reckless endangerment, possession of a firearm as a minor, wear/carrying a handgun within 100 yards of a school and having a handgun on his person in connection to allegedly shooting two people multiple times on April 22, 2021. 

During closing arguments, the prosecutor revealed to the jury that the victim was shot twice by the defendant and his co-defendant Dante Price. In a video, jurors saw Price shoot the victim with the defendant watching and contributing to shooting the victim seven times.

You heard the detective who identified the defendant, testify that he’s been patrolling that area for a year. That specific neighborhood has a lot of violence in that area, said the prosecutor. 

The detective said he got the DEA to place cameras in his car.  After hearing about the shooting in the neighborhood he regularly patrols, the detective looked at his camera footage to see if he captured anything. The detective said he recognized the defendant by the back of his head. 

“He immediately knew,” said defense counsel Martin Cohen during closing arguments on Thursday. “I watched the video for months and could not identify my client”. 

The detective wanted to narrate who he saw; he did no actual investigating because he knew the shooter based on the back of his head, Cohen said. “Good detectives do the work to prove their theory rather than just say he was the shooter,” said Cohen.

The lead detective on the case obtained a search and seizure warrant but found no clothes that were similar to the clothes in the previous video that Richard allegedly wore, said Cohen. He added that his client’s shoes did not match the shooter’s shoes either.

According to the detective, the shooter was dressed in all black and a pair of New Balance shoes.

The prosecutor thought the shoes belonged to the defendant but failed to realize that the defendant does not own those shoes.

A gun wasn’t recovered from his client’s belongings, Cohen added. 

During his testimony, the victim changed his story informing the jurors of things he never told the lead detective. Cohen insinuated that the victim said what the detectives told him to say, based on their narrative.

“My client’s life is on the line,” Cohen said. “We don’t want to live in a society where a detective tells you to trust him without any factual evidence to back him up. Don’t let someone’s blinders fool you.”

Find my client not guilty of all charges, he is not the person who did the shooting, Cohen said.

The defense and I can agree on two facts, said the prosecutor. One, the shooting took place on Frankford Avenue and two, the defendant does live in that area. 

There is no doubt in the identification of the defendant made by the detective, seeing as the detective see’s the defendant so often, the prosecutor said.

He even stood right under the camera with his face in a clear shot, said the prosecutor. 

The detective who identified the defendant as the shooter gave a recorded statement to the lead detective. He even described everything he saw in the pictures of the scene, which were shown to him to make sure he got his information correct, argued the prosecutor. 

The prosecutor added that the victim testified that he was parking when approached by the co-defendant, who began assaulting him followed by a crowd forming with the defendant right in the front of the car.

The defendant then takes off running with shots fired shortly after, soon after the defendant comes back with a gun then fires at the victim several times then flees again, according to court documents.

The defendant fired seven rounds at the victim, documents state.

Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Dana Middleton presided over the trial.

Jury deliberations began late this morning.