And it was in Baltimore in November that a DVD called "Stop Snitching" began to circulate. The DVD, for sale in at least one Baltimore shop, celebrates witness intimidation and includes interviews with men talking about retaliation against suspected informants.
Jessamy circulated copies to state legislators and asked them to support a bill that would give prosecutors broad new powers to fight witness intimidation.
Baltimore police detectives Byron Conaway, left, and Samuel Bowden search the city for witnesses who failed to appear to testify in criminal trials.
(Preston Keres -- The Washington Post)
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Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R), author of one of such proposal, cited the DVD during his State of the State address.
Under Ehrlich's proposal, statements from witnesses who did not appear at trial could be entered into evidence. Defense lawyers, however, complained that the provision would strip defendants of their constitutional right to cross-examine witnesses against them.
Del. Joseph F. Vallario Jr. (D-Prince George's), a defense lawyer and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, opposed the provision. The panel approved a watered-down variation of the provision Wednesday.
Jessamy said later that the amended proposal would "help us very little" in addressing the culture of witness intimidation in Baltimore. With the session set to end Monday, the legislation's fate remained uncertain.
Prosecutors say they use body attachments only because the culture of witness intimidation is so pervasive. Analyses in recent years showed that nearly one of every three homicide or non-fatal shooting cases is dismissed because witnesses vanish or change their stories, they said. In September, the city assigned three detectives to help Jessamy's office locate and sometimes arrest uncooperative witnesses.
"Being a snitch in Baltimore City is one of the worst things you can be in 2005 and one of the most dangerous things you can be," Cecil said. He estimated that body attachments are used in at least half of the non-fatal shooting cases in the city. Another Baltimore prosecutor, Samuel A. Yee, said: "I strongly prefer that my witnesses are in jail. Nothing makes me happier than that."
The witnesses are detained at the city jail. Absent a specific instruction to the contrary, officials said, they are treated like anyone else who has been arrested.
Costes was expected to testify against Marvin Buckson, who had been charged in a 2002 shooting death in East Baltimore. Soon after the slaying, Costes told police she had seen Buckson pull a gun on the victim, a man she knew as Willie Earl, and then drag the victim down the street by his shirt.
The trial was postponed repeatedly between March 2003 and June of the following year. During that time, records show, Costes was a no-show at five scheduled court dates -- one time, according to prosecutors, actually fleeing from the courthouse.
Prosecutors had her arrested on a body attachment Aug. 16, 2004. She was presented before Glynn two days later and was ordered held without bail. As with all such witnesses, she was eligible to receive $10 for every day she was in jail.
"It's very disturbing to deprive someone of their liberty when they're not charged with a crime," Glynn said last week. "The only alternative I know of is if you had a more sophisticated system of witness protection, but . . . that's expensive. We already have the jail."
Costes was released in January, on Glynn's order, after giving a videotaped deposition that could be used as evidence in Buckson's trial. As it happened, Buckson soon pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, and Costes was not required to testify in court.
Through her lawyer, Costes declined to comment for this story.
Staff writer Henri E. Cauvin also contributed to this report.
