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Michael Anthony Baltimore, 44 of Carlisle, PA, had been convicted on Feb. 1, 2024, in a domestic violence case from Jan. 7, 2021, but the charges were dismissed and the case was vacated due to the improper witness-juror contact.
Baltimore had been on the run for a year and a half after he allegedly shot and killed his former boss. His capture happened following a wild bar fight with a knife, a loaded gun, more than 800 ecstasy tablets, and fentanyl, according to US Marshals.
Baltimore was wanted as the prime suspect in the fatal shooting of GQ Barber Shop owner Kendell Jerome Cook, 39 of Steelton, according to US Marshals. He had been bumped up to the US Marshal's Top 15 most wanted in June 2022 and on Friday, January 13, 2023, he was taken into custody in Florida, US Marshals say.
In the initial incident, for an unknown reason, Baltimore had come to the shop, located at 128 North Hanover Street in Carlisle, opened fire at Cook, and then shot at another former barber, Anthony White, according to police at the time. White survived but Cook died at the scene shortly after the shooting on Saturday, May 22, 2021, around 7:30 p.m., according to police.
The conviction that was withdrawn is not regarding the homicide or the Florida case, but an alleged domestic violence assault that predates either event.
That trial concluded on February 1, and during those proceedings, a domestic violence expert gave testimony. That evening a juror saw the expert at a restaurant and thanked her for her testimony — that's when the expert:
"Inquired of the woman whether she had been watching the trial. It was at this point the woman identified herself as a juror. The witness quickly responded that since the woman was a juror it was inappropriate for them to be speaking. The witness then proceeded to call the assistant district attorney in the case and advise her of the conversation with the juror."
The following day Baltimore was found guilty of aggravated assault, simple assault, and flight to avoid apprehension, but not guilty of strangulation, but it turns out the ADA never informed DA McCormack of the juror-witness/expert interaction until the day after the case concluded.
The defendant was denied the opportunity to have another juror seated in place of the juror that approached the witness, and as such he was denied a fair trial. When there is a reckless disregard on the part of the prosecutor for the substantial risk that the defendant would not receive a fair trial, as there was in this case, the current caselaw in Pennsylvania indicates that double jeopardy bars a retrial. After reviewing the facts of the juror contact with the witness and the timeline of when such contact was reported to the court, the district attorney’s office conceded that in the interests of justice, the guilty verdict must be vacated, and the charges dismissed with prejudice."
The DA then informed the domestic violence survivor of the dismissal, and "she is understandably upset by this result. I know it is of no comfort to her, but we very much respect her courage to come forward and testify under very trying circumstances,” McCormack.
Both the Florida and the PA homicide cases are ongoing. Baltimore's next court appearance is set for June 11, 2024, in Cumberland County, PA.
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