Under the glare of television lights, minutes after hearing the jury’s verdict, about two dozen of Dontee D. Stokes’ relatives stood on the East Courthouse steps last night clapping and cheering wildly as he emerged with his attorney.
In the courtroom, they had to suppress their excitement when a sheriff’s deputy shouted “Be quiet” when some of them screamed as the first not-guilty verdict was announced.
But outside, there was no one to tell them to keep it down.
So they cheered. They hugged. They cried. They acted as if they had just hit the lottery.
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And they thanked God.
Stokes had been on trial in the May 13 shooting of the Rev. Maurice J. Blackwell, who was wounded outside his Reservoir Hill home. Stokes has said that Blackwell sexually abused him for years when he was a teen-ager. Blackwell has not been charged, and the Baltimore’s state’s attorney office is investigating the allegations.
‘I just thank God’
Yesterday, Stokes was cleared of all but the least serious charges.
“I just thank God for the verdicts that came in,” Tamara Stokes said as she stood in the background, watching her son and his attorney, Warren A. Brown, talk to reporters. She smiled as she spoke, a stark contrast to her demeanor minutes before inside the courtroom.
As she sat on the first row of courthouse benches directly behind her son, waiting for the verdicts that would determine his fate, Tamara Stokes bowed her head, closed her eyes and prayed.
As the jury forewoman continued saying “not guilty,” tears trickled down Tamara Stokes’ face. Her 11 siblings and other relatives also cried.
Tamara Stokes said she hoped that the Baltimore jury’s verdict will have a national impact.
“I think this helps a lot of cases across the country,” she said. “There is some hope, and there is some light. I just hope the prosecutors will start prosecuting the people who are abusing children, the victims, and stop sweeping this stuff under the rug.”
Abuse victims
The verdict was applauded by others who say they have been abused by priests, although they stressed that they did not condone violence against abusers.
“I think anybody that understands what it’s like to be abused by a priest certainly knows what it is to live with the rage,” said the Rev. Gary Hayes, a Roman Catholic priest from Cloverport, Ky., who traveled to Baltimore last week to hold a candlelight vigil in support of Stokes. “And the rage is compounded when little or nothing is done to hold the perpetrator to some kind of accountability.”
Hayes has said he was molested by two members of the clergy as a teen-ager.
The prosecutor
Prosecutor Sylvester Cox was clearly disappointed.
“We respect the jurors’ decision,” Cox said. “The state didn’t see it the way they did, but the jurors have spoken. The jury thought that [the verdict] was justice – and that’s justice in this case.”
As Stokes left the courtroom, he leaned over to his girlfriend, Tiffani Taft, and said, “I love you.” Outside the courthouse, Stokes, 26, expressed gratitude as he was flanked by supporters.
“I’d like to thank God, my family and my supporters,” he said. “I’ve gotten cards and prayers from all around the world.”
Call for support
Mark Serrano of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests said abuse survivors need the type of support Stokes has received.
“We are hopeful that this will … serve as a reflection of the compassion and the mercy that regular people can show abuse survivors once they understand the struggle that has been endured,” Serrano said in a telephone interview.
“We in no way condone violence against perpetrators. In fact, abuse survivors are far more likely to hurt themselves than perpetrators.”
Serrano said support groups such as SNAP exist to help abuse victims before they hurt themselves or others.
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On Sunday, a day before jurors reached a decision in his trial, Dontee Stokes had attended Brown’s Memorial Church in Park Heights with his mother and other relatives. The family’s faith, Tamara Stokes said, helped them get through her son’s ordeal.
Now, her family can concentrate on celebrating Christmas, she said.
“I think we can go home,” she said, “and light that Christmas tree now.”
Sun staff writers Johnathon E. Briggs, Allison Klein and Laura Vozzella contributed to this article.