Rosenbaum's Death Stunned Residents
By Henri E. Cauvin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
The man accused of killing a 63-year-old journalist in a robbery this year in Northwest Washington was convicted yesterday of first-degree murder and now faces the prospect of a life sentence without the possibility of release.
Percey Jordan, a 42-year-old from Southeast Washington, had decided to take his case to trial even after his cousin, Michael Hamlin, pleaded guilty last month and admitted his role in the Jan. 6 robbery.
It was a gamble for Jordan, who knew his cousin would be testifying against him and who rejected a final plea offer from the government on the eve of his trial in D.C. Superior Court. Now Hamlin, 24, is more likely to walk out of prison one day, having pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, which has no mandatory minimum sentence.
After three days of testimony, the jury began reviewing the case Monday. Jurors deliberated about six hours before finding Jordan guilty in the death of David E. Rosenbaum, a longtime reporter and editor for the New York Times.
Struck in the head with a heavy plastic pipe, Rosenbaum suffered massive hemorrhaging and died two days later.
As the foreman read the verdict, Rosenbaum's daughter, Dorothy, wept, and her brother Dan put his arm over her shoulder.
"We obviously believe that justice has been served," Rosenbaum's brother Marcus said outside the courthouse. But he said the verdict was anything but a happy moment. "It's a lot of wasted life," he said -- his brother's, Hamlin's and Jordan's.
The crime stunned many city residents, particularly those who live in neighborhoods thought to be safe, such as the one where Rosenbaum was robbed and where such random and violent crime is rare. But the surprise and sadness gave way to outrage, as grievous mistakes were uncovered in Rosenbaum's emergency medical care.
During testimony last week, his family listened as prosecutors described Rosenbaum's final minutes "of meaningful life" -- the walk he took to try to shake the hiccups, the fleeting sensation that something was wrong and then the sudden attack shortly after 9 p.m. in the 3800 block of Gramercy Street NW.
The jurors heard the words of Rosenbaum's widow, Virginia, who not long before her death from cancer testified before a grand jury to recount how her husband went out and never came back.
Then they heard from Hamlin, who testified for more than three hours, explaining how he and his cousin ended up attacking the man on the dark, quiet street.
And on the final day of testimony, the jury heard from a drinking buddy of Jordan's who said Jordan told him about the robbery. He decided to testify against Jordan in hopes of a reward.
Defense attorney Michael Starr attacked the testimony of both men.
Hamlin, he said, turned himself in because police were on to him. Hamlin needed to help himself, but his initial lies did not fool the detectives, Starr said. Only when Hamlin implicated Jordan and explained that his cousin had struck Rosenbaum with a pipe did the detectives believe him, Starr said. That's why Hamlin stuck with that account, Starr said, calling it a lie.
The drinking buddy was similarly opportunistic, Starr argued.
But one juror said afterward that the jury largely believed Hamlin and was convinced that Jordan played a role in the robbery.
The prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Haines, introduced a trove of security camera surveillance footage that appeared to corroborate Hamlin's account.
The tapes showed Jordan and Hamlin soon after the robbery at an Exxon station on Connecticut Avenue NW, filling up Hamlin's Cadillac and using a credit card stolen from Rosenbaum. The tapes later showed them shopping in a CVS and a Safeway not far from their home in Southeast Washington, again using credit cards from Rosenbaum and from a woman they robbed in Silver Spring the same night.
The footage led to swift charges. About an hour after a clip showing Hamlin was broadcast on local newscasts -- with Hamlin's name visible on the work uniform he was wearing -- he went to police. He was interrogated and eventually arrested. A day later, Jordan went to police and was arrested.
Such quick detective work usually would have been lauded, but in this case the response by the D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department, D.C. police and Howard University Hospital was roundly condemned.
At the scene, Rosenbaum was misdiagnosed as an intoxicated man, leading dispatchers to send a basic care ambulance from a distant part of the city rather than an advanced care unit that was much closer. Other lapses followed, detailed in a blistering report issued by the D.C. inspector general's office.
Hamlin is to be sentenced Dec. 19. Voluntary sentencing guidelines suggest a 14- to 35-year sentence. Jordan will be sentenced Jan. 12.
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