The weeklong trial for a Waldorf man accused of a January 2016 murder resulted in a partial conviction on some charges and a hung jury on the others, including first-degree murder, on Wednesday.
Miguel Angel Santana, 28, was charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit the same, illegal firearms possession and other weapons charges for the murder of Lydell “Mookie” Wood. Santana was found guilty of the conspiracy charge and a weapons charge, but they returned a hung jury on the first-degree murder charge as well as the other charges.
Santana is also currently serving a life sentence for another murder, the March 2016 shooting of Thomas Elijah-Isaih “Tyson” Tibbs. An alleged co-defendant of Santana’s, 23-year-old Rashaad Jovonni Brawner of Waldorf, has not yet stood trial for his charges in relation to Tibbs’ death. In closing arguments for the case of Wood’s death, Brawner was identified as a critical witness for the state, as well as a point of contention for the defense.
In her closing arguments in court Monday, Assistant State’s Attorney Constance Kopelman recounted for the jury the day Wood died. Wood and other men had come into conflict with Santana earlier in the day on Jan. 6, 2016. That initial conflict resulted in one of the men in Wood’s group shooting at Santana, who wasn’t injured. Following that encounter, Santana contacted his brother-in-law and co-defendant, 24-year-old Antonio Ka-Juan Owens of Suitland, to help him retaliate, according to Kopelman. The two men, the prosecutor said, were driven down to Piney Church Road by Brawner, where they fired test shots to ensure their guns were working, before returning to the 2000 block of Rooks Head Place to seek out the man who had shot at Santana. Once they spotted the group again, including Wood, a chase ensued. Wood was killed by a single gunshot that broke his clavicle, which severed major arteries and caused internal bleeding.
“If this isn’t first-degree murder, I don’t know what is,” Kopelman said to the jury.
Santana’s attorney, Kevin Collins, said in his closing arguments that the evidence presented by the state didn’t implicate his client at all. Specifically, Collins took the most umbrage with Brawner’s credibility as a witness.
Kopelman had said in her statements that Brawner was “not an angel, and that’s absolutely true, but on at least one occasion he was on the side of justice.”
On Tuesday in the defense’s closing, Collins urged the jury to consider whether someone in a position like Brawner’s, can truly be believed to the legal standard with no reservation. “He cannot, and to think otherwise is absurd,” Collins said. “He is the most critical witness, and is not a good, credible one.” Brawner is facing “hundreds of years” in prison, Collins said, and therefore “human nature” would cause him to have no qualms about lying. “He’s potentially dying in jail,” Collins said, “and the state wants you to believe he has no motive to lie? Please.”
In the state’s response, Assistant State’s Attorney Jonathan Beattie doubled down on the veracity of Brawner’s testimony.
“It’s not Rashaad Brawner standing next to a frozen lake, telling you the ice is thin,” Beattie said. “The sun is out, and there’s a sign that says it, too. It’s corroborated.”
Beattie also addressed the subject of a fur-trimmed black jacket that multiple eyewitnesses said they’d seen on a man fleeing the scene of the crime. Collins said the jacket described is a fairly common item, and the one presented as evidence in court he noted had not been tested for evidence. The jacket, Beattie reminded the jury, was uncovered nearly six months after the shooting, meaning DNA testing would have likely been inconclusive. Beattie also showed the jury multiple photographs of Santana wearing the jacket, indicating it was his.
Owens was convicted on all charges related to Wood’s murder in 2018 and sentenced to life without parole. A sentencing date for Santana has not been set.
Originally Posted on the The Maryland Independent:
https://www.somdnews.com/independent/news/local/murder-trial-draws-mixed-verdict-for-accused/article_ce98f217-8e93-5ada-8ae8-8604753673e6.html