Suspect Convicted of Voluntary Manslaughter Despite ‘Defense of Others’ Claim

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A jury convicted Jerrod Smith, 22, of voluntary manslaughter in a case that hinged on whether the defendant was trying to protect other people from a knife-wielding man on drugs or wrongly targeting his victim.

The case was argued before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Robert K. Taylor, Jr. who asked, “What was [the defendant’s] state of mind?”

Smith was originally charged with second-degree murder and felony use of a firearm in a crime of violence for the murder of Toby Rogers, 31.

The nine-woman, three-man panel acquitted Smith of murder on Sept. 27, but reached a guilty verdict on a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter as well as the firearm violation.

According to a Baltimore Police Department (BPD) release, officers responded to a 911 call on Dec. 30 about a shooting on the 4300 block of Seminole Avenue. At the scene they found Rogers dead from multiple gunshot wounds fired at close range.

Three days later police arrested Smith and charged him with second-degree murder.

In trial on Sept. 26, the lead detective testified that officers found shell casings in the apartment where the shooting occurred, as well as bullet hole damage to the walls, blood spatters and remnants of human hair.

The detective presented surveillance video of the apartment hallway showing a man in a black hoodie carrying a package, which the detective said probably contained a large gun.

Based on information gathered at the scene including a witness who identified Smith from a photo array as being at the building, police executed a search and seizure warrant three days later at another location where Smith and his girlfriend were living.

As seen in body-worn camera footage presented to the jury, police recovered an assault-style rifle, described as multi-caliber, as well as a magazine that fit the weapon. The detective said Smith was located in the basement behind a water heater.

The detective also told the jury that the bullets in the gun were .223 Remingtons, which were consistent with the casings found at the crime scene.

Arguing for the defense Andrew Saller painted Smith as a hero, not the villain of the piece. Saller said there was a violent argument taking place at the scene and Rogers was aggressive and threatening.

“He had a knife and was about to stab someone,” said Saller, who claimed a witness was “terrified.”

“They knew Mr. Rogers was out of his mind on drugs,” said Saller. Therefore, Smith was acting in the defense of others when he shot Rogers, said Saller. “You can understand why he did what he did,” continued the lawyer, who earlier pointed out earlier that Rogers was a fugitive.

The prosecutor said just the opposite. She gave a dramatic demonstration of the kill shots that ended Rogers’ life. Starting from a tape measure stretched 16 feet across the courtroom floor, she paced “closer and closer” to the lead detective holding the end of the tape simulating Roger’s position and winding up just inches away.

There was a shot to the shoulder, the chest and the top of the head, she said, then she crumpled to the courtroom floor in the position of the victim.

“The last gunshot wound was an execution,” she said.

In his summation, Saller said, “This is insanity.” He claimed the prosecutors were hiding the evidence.

He pointed out the police failed to do DNA or ballistics testing on the firearm. Nor did they analyze the decedent’s clothing or the hair or blood found at the scene. The detective had earlier testified that it wasn’t necessary.

Smith awaits sentencing in the case.