Shamal Ulysses Weems
Leonardtown, MD — A Lexington Park man has been convicted by a St. Mary’s County jury of second-degree assault in a trial that court observers said was highly unusual. Shamal Weems, 39, was convicted Dec. 3 by a circuit court jury in just 18 minutes after a trial that featured only one witness, the alleged victim.
The trial started off with an unusual opening statement by the prosecutor, Assistant State’s Attorney Buffy Giddens. She told the jurors that the alleged victim, Kelley Busby, was punched in the face and stomach. But then Giddens predicted to the jury, “I bet she is going to tell you a different story today.”
And that is exactly what happened. When Giddens called Busby to the stand she said she and Weems got into a verbal argument over infidelity, but there were no physical blows. Busby said that Weems was the father of her child and that they had an off-again, on-again relationship for quite some time. She said the two continued to see each other at least four or five times a week.
But then the other shoe was dropped by the state. Giddens showed Busby a written statement and two pictures and asked her if the signature on the statement was hers. She said it was. The statement and pictures were introduced into evidence and shown to the jurors. Then the state rested its case and defense attorney, public defender Eric Sullivan did not put on any witnesses.
That document shown to the jury was a “Petition for Protection from Domestic Violence.” Busby wrote in the statement that Weems lost it during the argument and started “spitting on me. Then he punched me on the side of the face, grabbing on me. He got my cell phone from me and smashed it on the ground. Then he chased me and punched me in the stomach. I ran from him to the upstairs and used a friend’s phone to call 911.”
The jury was also shown the two pictures, one of some pillows on the floor of the living room indicating a scuffle had occurred and a second of Busby taken at the hospital allegedly showing a puffed face and signs of being beaten.
Busby’s statement for a protective order was replicated in the statement of charges filed against Weems by St. Mary’s Sheriff’s Office Deputy Jean Vezzosi. The deputy said that she responded to St. Mary’s Hospital at which time Busby applied for the protective order.
The deputy reported that Busby said she hung up on the 911 call. “I knew I was really upset and there was no reason to make the call,” Busby reported to Vezzosi.
The trial was heard before Judge Karen Abrams. At one point during Giddens’ brief questioning of Busby, the woman refused to answer a question based on her Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate herself. The judge said she didn’t believe she could invoke that right since she wasn’t married to Weems. But Giddens produced a document from her office stating they wouldn’t prosecute Busby for any statements made on the stand.
That agreement, which was signed by the judge, exempted a possible perjury charge. But Giddens told The BayNet after the trial that she did not intend to proceed with perjury charges against Busby because of the lack of witnesses. She said unfortunately in many domestic assault cases the victim recants their original statement.
The jury did find Weems not guilty of a second charge–malicious destruction of property related to the cell phone damage,
After the second-degree assault conviction, Judge Abrams ordered a pre-sentence investigation by the Department of Parole and Probation. The investigations typically take about 60 days.
Contact Dick Myers at dick.myers@thebaynet.com