Southwest Baltimore house last month, city prosecutors said, intent on beating
the homeowner so badly that he couldn’t testify in court.
But their alleged effort at witness intimidation went awry, according to
court documents. Not only was the victim’s family able to alert police, but
one of the suspects was killed in the fight.
Yesterday, Joseph John DiAngelo Jr. – the man who police and prosecutors
say was behind the intimidation, waiting in his pickup truck as the others
carried out his orders – was charged with nine assault and conspiracy-related
crimes, including witness intimidation, in the February attack.
The incident illustrates the relentless intimidation affecting Baltimore’s
criminal justice system, from high-profile violent drug cases to seemingly
minor neighborhood disputes, like this one in Morrell Park.
Court documents say DiAngelo, 51, promised $100 to the two men if they beat
the victim so badly that he couldn’t testify against him in a court case. A
judge ordered him held yesterday without bail.
DiAngelo’s alleged twice-over victim – first of an attempted knife attack
in the fall and then of witness intimidation – says he will come to court as
many times as necessary.
“Oh yes, I’ll testify,” said Vincent Harmon, 42. He declined to comment
further, saying his lawyer had advised him not to.
Harmon and DiAngelo aren’t warring drug lords. They’re neighbors embroiled
in a dispute. And the original charges against DiAngelo, though serious, carry
a maximum penalty of 13 years in prison and were to be handled in the lower
District Court.
Baltimore State’s Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy said that what happened to
Harmon shows how witness intimidation cuts across all types of cases.
“We live in a civil society,” she said. “We cannot allow this kind of
behavior to continue at the same rate.”
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Jessamy has said that witness intimidation – ranging from subtle threats
such as court transcripts nailed to a witness’ door to more blatant attacks
like the one against Harmon – pervades Baltimore’s court system. A locally
produced documentary called Stop Snitching, which was sold on the streets last
fall, underlines the problem, she said.
Prosecutors across Maryland have been lobbying in Annapolis this
legislative session for a bill, crafted by Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., that
they say will help curb witness intimidation.
The proposal, which was approved this week by the Senate but faces
opposition in a House committee, would increase the maximum prison sentence
for witness intimidation from five years to 20. It also would allow some
out-of-court statements by intimidated witnesses to be used as evidence at
trials even if the witness isn’t present. Such statements are usually rejected
as hearsay.
Criminal defense attorneys oppose the hearsay exception because, they say,
it infringes upon people’s constitutional right to confront their accuser.
Although Harmon has vowed to testify even in the face of an intimidation
attempt, Jessamy said witnesses in other cases have been more reluctant.
For example, Baltimore resident Sharon McClellan, who testified in favor of
Ehrlich’s bill, said that fear has kept her nephew’s killer from being
charged. She said that three witnesses have told her what happened May 13,
2003, but that none has cooperated with police because they are terrified.
Court documents against DiAngelo, a man with a multipage arrest record of
mostly minor drug possession, theft and bad-checks charges, describe how
police believe he hatched a plan to instill such fear in Harmon:
DiAngelo hired William Morton and Ronald Carter and drove them about 5 p.m.
Feb. 27 to Sexton Street. He pointed to Harmon’s home and waited outside in
his truck while they forced their way in.
Once inside the home, the two began beating Harmon with the table legs and
corralled his family into the kitchen. Harmon made his way to his second-floor
bedroom in search of his rifle.
Morton ran outside and hopped back into DiAngelo’s truck, but Harmon
continued to fight Carter. When officers arrived, the truck sped away, and
officers discovered that Carter was having trouble breathing. He was taken to
the Maryland Shock Trauma Center and died a short time later.
Police later interviewed Morton, who said DiAngelo paid him $15 and
promised him $50 more. Morton has not been charged.
DiAngelo was arrested shortly after midnight yesterday. At a hearing later
in the morning, a judge denied him bail.
“This case is a direct attack on a state’s witness,” the charging documents
state.
Harmon is set to testify against DiAngelo on charges related to a fight
with a knife Nov. 15 on Sexton Avenue, where they both lived.
Court documents in that case indicate the men know each other because
Harmon owns half of a duplex on Sexton and DiAngelo’s mother owns the other
half. The fight that day began on the roof, over a quibble about a roof
repair.
DiAngelo forced Harmon to jump to the ground 8 feet below, the documents
state, and DiAngelo chased Harmon with a knife.
DiAngelo was charged with second-degree assault and carrying a deadly
weapon with the intent to injure, but he wasn’t jailed.
The two continued to feud, according to court documents, until the
intimidation attempt Feb. 27. It’s not clear whether Harmon will face charges
for Carter’s death. Police said they have forwarded their homicide
investigation to the state’s attorneys office, which will make the
determination.
Jessamy said the actions DiAngelo is accused of were “discouraging.” She
said it was a clear attempt to silence a witness.
“We have to do something to make this stop,” she said. “Criminals get away
with it if witnesses don’t come forward. We can’t convict people without their
testimony.”
Sun staff writer Ryan Davis contributed to this article.