Jeffrey A. Wroten
Maryland state prison inmate accused of fatally shooting a correctional officer during an escape at a hospital in Hagerstown two years ago was found guilty today of first-degree murder and other charges.
The verdict raises the possibility that Brandon T. Morris, 22, could be sentenced to death in the slaying of Jeffrey A. Wroten, 44. When proceedings resume on Tuesday, Morris will choose whether his sentence will be decided by a judge or the jury, according to a court official.
The jury, which reached its verdict on the first full day of deliberations, rejected the defense contention that although Morris deserved punishment for his role in the shooting, the attack was not premeditated.
"You're going to convict him of a lot of offenses, but you should pause when we start talking about the death penalty," Morris's lead attorney, Arcangelo Tuminelli, said during his closing argument yesterday.
In January 2006, Wroten, a correctional officer at the Roxbury Correctional Institution, was guarding Morris at Washington County Hospital. Morris, who was serving an eight-year sentence for assault and robbery, had been admitted with an unspecified injury.
Prosecutors alleged that Morris, of Baltimore, wrested a gun from Wroten, shot him in the face and then carjacked a taxi outside. Police located the taxi about five miles from the hospital, and Morris was apprehended after the cab crashed into a concrete barrier.
At the request of the defense, the trial was moved from Washington County to Howard County, where the jury returned its verdict.
The verdict raises the possibility that Brandon T. Morris, 22, could be sentenced to death in the slaying of Jeffrey A. Wroten, 44. When proceedings resume on Tuesday, Morris will choose whether his sentence will be decided by a judge or the jury, according to a court official.
The jury, which reached its verdict on the first full day of deliberations, rejected the defense contention that although Morris deserved punishment for his role in the shooting, the attack was not premeditated.
"You're going to convict him of a lot of offenses, but you should pause when we start talking about the death penalty," Morris's lead attorney, Arcangelo Tuminelli, said during his closing argument yesterday.
In January 2006, Wroten, a correctional officer at the Roxbury Correctional Institution, was guarding Morris at Washington County Hospital. Morris, who was serving an eight-year sentence for assault and robbery, had been admitted with an unspecified injury.
Prosecutors alleged that Morris, of Baltimore, wrested a gun from Wroten, shot him in the face and then carjacked a taxi outside. Police located the taxi about five miles from the hospital, and Morris was apprehended after the cab crashed into a concrete barrier.
At the request of the defense, the trial was moved from Washington County to Howard County, where the jury returned its verdict.
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