By Mike Sarzo
The Montgomery County Sentinel
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. — Former Prince George’s County Police Cpl. Keith Washington was sentenced Tuesday to 45 years in prison.
The sentence came nearly three months after he was convicted on five of 12 counts in a murder trial stemming from the Jan. 24, 2007 shooting of two Marlo Furniture deliverymen at his Accokeek home. Brandon Clark, 22, died from his injuries Feb. 2, 2007 while Robert White, now 37, survived the shooting.
“It feels good. It’s over,” said Marilynn Clark, Brandon Clark’s mother. She tried to address the courtroom during the sentencing hearing, but broke down after saying that she was a single mother who tried her best to raise her children.
A jury found Washington, 46, who also previously served as the deputy director of the county’s office of homeland security, guilty Feb. 25 of two counts of first-degree assault, one count of involuntary manslaughter in Brandon Clark’s death and two counts of use of a handgun in the commission of a felony. He was found not guilty on four counts of second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter.
A teary Washington addressed the court, apologizing to Marilynn Clark and Robert White.
“Mrs. Clark, I want you to know I did not murder your son,” Washington said. “I feel your pain. I feel your pain.
“No parent should ever have to bury a child,” Washington said. “In a civilized society, it is the children who bury a parent.”
Washington pointed to his public service career, including tours of duty in the military, including 1999-2003 in Bosnia. He invoked historical figures including Harriet Tubman, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, citing their courage as an inspiration.
“I was a public servant,” Keith Washington said. “I wasn’t a perfect servant.” He said he would accept his sentence.
“I go willingly wherever my peers judge me to be guilty,” he said. “I go willingly.”
However, defense attorney Roland Patterson, who was present at the courtroom with trial attorneys Vincent Cohen, Jr. and Michael Starr, said after the hearing that the defense would appeal the ruling.
“This case represents factually the nightmare and the potential nightmare of every male head of household,” Patterson said. He said he and fellow appellate attorney Paul Benkirt would “dive in with both feet” and “do our level best to get another day in court here in Upper Marlboro.”
Patterson said the former police corporal and former deputy director of Prince George’s County’s Office of Homeland Security was a life sentence with all but 45 years suspended. However, a source familiar with the case said that was a mischaracterization of the sentence.
Patterson said that Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Glenn F. Ivey “overcharged” Keith Washington, but Ivey disputed that argument.
“It’s a tough argument to say we overcharged,” Ivey said. He also said he doubted that an appeals court would overturn Keith Washington’s sentence.
“I’m confident [the appeal] will be denied,” Ivey said.
Stacey Washington, Keith Washington’s wife, maintained the defense’s argument of self-defense.
“I was there the night this incident occurred,” she said. “I saw what happened. I saw him being beaten.”
However, Circuit Court Judge Michael P. Whalen, who presided in the case, said that medical personnel examinations finding no obvious injuries was one of “three or four things” that stood out about the case.
Whalen said the airing of the tape of the 911 call in which a “composed” Keith Washington reported the shooting, Keith Washington carrying his handgun in his jeans after changing out of his uniform and the fact that Brandon Clark and White were both working since 6 a.m. on Jan. 24, 2007, when the shooting took place.
White said the shooting changed his life permanently.
“I can’t even work. I don’t have no money,” White said. “I got to sit on a bullet. I hurt every day.” He added, “I see Brandon every day. Sometimes, I sit in my room and I cry,” telling the court about the bond that developed between him and Brandon Clark.
Addressing White, Washington said, “I have no animosity toward you.”
After the hearing, both White and Marilynn Clark responded to Washington’s addressing them in court.
“I didn’t want to hear it,” Marilynn Clark said. However, White said he accepted Washington’s apology, but added that he didn’t believe Washington when he said he wouldn’t have shot him or Brandon Clark if he had that day to live over again.
“It’s just ripping me up inside,” Marilynn Clark said. “I’m constantly thinking about my baby.”
Despite the jury’s dismissal of the most serious charges, Washington still faced up to 70 years in prison. Police found a handcuff key in Washington’s jail shirt during a strip search on Feb. 28, but according to testimony in the hearing, a police investigation dismissed the fact as being insufficient evidence of an alleged escape.
Washington received 10 years for involuntary manslaughter in Brandon Clark’s death. On the first-degree assault charges, he received 25-year sentences with all but 10 years suspended for each. He also received a 20-year sentence and a 25-year sentence with all but five years suspended for the handgun charges. The 10-year sentence in the first-degree assault charge against Brandon Clark will be served concurrently with the involuntary manslaughter charge.
Washington will serve a minimum of 25 years in prison before he is eligible for parole.
Washington faces a later trial in September on charges that he assaulted real estate appraiser Kevin King in April 2007.
Copyright 2008 The Montgomery County Sentinel