Jury Deliberations Underway in Fatal Stabbing Trial

By Andrew Michaels - September 14, 2021
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Victims |

The fate of Ronald Brown now belongs in the hands of the jury who began deliberating on Sept. 13 regarding his involvement in the death of William Scott in December 2019.

Brown is charged with the fatal stabbing of Scott on Dec. 8, 2019, when the victim was found on his bed with nine stab wounds on his side and another on his face. The victim’s girlfriend was also considered a suspect given holes police found in her story about what she saw happened and who she saw at the time of the incident.

During the final day of the trial on Monday afternoon, the prosecution called a detective with the Baltimore Police Department to the stand to discuss the photo array he presented to Scott’s girlfriend. The double-blind procedure is used to identify potential suspects via photographs that are presented by a detective or officer who has no involvement in or knowledge of the case.

The detective told the prosecution that he followed the procedure’s rules and did not direct Scott’s girlfriend to any particular suspect shown in the photos.

Following the detective’s testimony, the prosecutor and defense attorney Brandon T. Taylor rested, while the latter motioned for judgement of acquittal. Taylor told Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Lynn Stewart Mays that the prosecution did not prove Brown committed first-degree murder and raised questions about the victim’s girlfriend’s testimony.

Judge Mays denied the defense’s motion and counsel proceeded with closing arguments.

The prosecutor reminded the jury that Scott was “viciously stabbed and beaten,” and that Scott’s girlfriend knew who killed him, as the prosecutor directed the jury to Brown who sat nearby in the courtroom. She also said that the argument between the victim and the defendant likely started as a result of Brown taking drugs from Scott’s pockets.

Taylor’s counterargument began when he said “the person responsible [for Scott’s death] was right in front of the state’s face the whole time and they couldn’t even see it.”

The victim’s girlfriend didn’t know who killed Scott until she became a person of interest, he said, reiterating that she was abused by the victim three times a week.

“I feel bad for Mr. Scott because the state is trying to convict the wrong guy,” Taylor said. “They are pointing their finger in the wrong direction.”

Jury deliberation began around 4 p.m. on Monday and continued on Sept. 14.