CARLISLE, Pa. — Note: The video is from May 2021.
A separate domestic violence conviction against the Cumberland County man who is also accused of killing one person and injuring another in a 2021 Carlisle barbershop shooting was dismissed last week due to unreported contact between a juror and a witness during his trial, prosecutors said.
Michael A. Baltimore, 45, was found guilty of aggravated assault on February 1, according to Cumberland County District Attorney Sean McCormack.
But the verdict was vacated last week, after McCormack learned there was unreported contact between at expert witness who testified at the trial and a member of the jury.
As a result, McCormack said, Baltimore cannot be retried in this case, due to Pennsylvania case law regarding double jeopardy.
However, he is still facing first-degree murder and other charges related to a shooting at GQ Barbership in Carlisle on May 21, 2021. The owner of the business, Kendall Cook, was pronounced dead at the scene, while another victim, Anthony White, was critically injured.
McCormack announced his intention to seek the death penalty if Baltimore is convicted in that case.
His conviction in the domestic violence case, however, is no more.
“The integrity of our judicial system is of paramount importance, and when a prosecutor makes a wrong decision in trial that imperils the defendant’s ability to receive a fair trial, as prosecutors we must do what is right to correct that mistake," McCormack said. "In this case the prosecutor’s mistaken belief that the juror contact did not need to be reported to the court, although said mistake was unintentional and not designed to prejudice the defendant, the result of the mistake did result in the defendant being prejudiced.
"We could not in good conscious argue otherwise to the court and therefore we agreed with defense counsel that the verdict should be vacated, and charges dismissed.”
McCormack said he informed the victim, who was "understandably upset."
"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," he said.
According to McCormack, the expert testified on Jan. 31. The testimony explained the dynamics of domestic violence to help the jury better understand domestic violence and how it affects victims.
After the trial was recessed for the day, McCormack said, the witness was having dinner at a local restaurant when she was approached by a woman who tanked her for her testimony.
The witness asked the woman if she had been watching the trial, and the woman answered she was a juror. The witness quickly responded that it was inappropriate for the two to be speaking, since the woman was a juror. The witness then called the assistant district attorney who was prosecuting the case to advise her of the contact with the juror.
The contact between the witness and juror was not reported to the court, McCormack said.
On Feb. 1, the jury convicted Baltimore of aggravated assault, simple assault, and flight to avoid apprehension, but found him not guilty of strangulation, according to McCormack. The contact between the juror and the witness should have been brought to the attention of the court, even though the conversation did not involve any discussion of the case.
On Feb. 2, McCormack said he was contacted by the assistant district attorney, who was concerned she had made a mistake by not notifying the court about the contact between the witness and the juror.
McCormack said he immediately contacted Baltimore's defense attorney and the court.
"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," McCormack said. "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.
Baltimore remains in Cumberland County Prison, where he has been held without bail since his arrest in Florida in June 2023. He was on the run for more than a year after fleeing the area following the shooting at GQ Barbershop.
His trial in the murder case is scheduled to begin in October.