ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A judge has dismissed all charges against two Anne Arundel County police officers once accused of misconduct following a 2023 high-speed pursuit that ended in a fatal crash.
On Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025, Judge Stacy McCormack of Anne Arundel County Circuit Court granted a defense motion to dismiss all counts against Corporal Eddie Vasquez and Corporal Kieran Schnell, citing the state’s failure to meet its burden under federal immunity protections. A trial scheduled for Oct. 14 was canceled after the ruling terminated the case. Vasquez was represented by Jezic & Moyse, Attorneys at Law, while Schnell was represented by the Law Offices of Murane & O’Neill.
The officers had faced charges of misconduct in office brought by Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown, marking the first time his office directly prosecuted police officers under expanded authority granted by the General Assembly. According to indictments returned by a grand jury in December 2023, Corporal Vasquez was charged with one count of misconduct in office, while Corporal Schnell faced two counts. The alleged misconduct was not tied to their actions leading up to the accident, nor were either officer accused of causing the crash. Instead, prosecutors said the charges stemmed solely from statements and omissions made to a supervisor after the incident.
The pursuit ended when the Infiniti crashed on Fort Smallwood Road in Pasadena on Dec. 7, 2023, killing passenger Damione Gardner, 22, of Baltimore, and injuring the driver, Meziah Keariee Johnson of Parkville. Johnson survived with serious injuries. He pleaded guilty on June 18, 2025, to negligent manslaughter by vehicle and was sentenced on July 30 to five years in prison, with all but 18 months suspended. He also received suspended sentences on drug and theft charges tied to the same incident, along with five years of supervised probation.
McCormack said the attorney general’s office failed to prove its evidence was free from the influence of compelled Internal Affairs statements, known as Garrity statements, given by the officers. The judge noted prosecutors had access to unredacted materials and lacked written safeguards to wall off the immunized testimony. “The state simply can’t and did not satisfy their burden under Kastigar,” McCormack said in court, referencing a 1972 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that requires prosecutors to prove their evidence is developed independently of compelled testimony.
Andrew Jezic, attorney for Vasquez, said the decision validated what the defense argued from the start. “Both are excellent officers who should have never been prosecuted,” Jezic said in a statement. “Both officers put their lives on the line in this case to do the right thing. They did nothing wrong. We fully expected a complete acquittal.”
Anne Arundel Police Chief Amal Awad had previously said internal investigators determined the officers’ conduct did not amount to a crime. The dismissal now closes a case that had drawn wide attention as a test of new prosecutorial powers and police accountability standards in Maryland.
Community advocates who pushed for stronger oversight after the 2021 police reform package viewed the indictments as a milestone. Tuesday’s ruling, however, shifts the focus back to departmental policy, with questions about whether internal discipline or revised pursuit guidelines will follow.
According to court documents filed Sept. 23, McCormack granted the defense motions to dismiss and the state formally entered a nolle prosequi, ending the case in its entirety. The hearing sheet also shows Vasquez was released on personal recognizance and all exhibits were returned to defense counsel, officially closing the record.
The dismissal fully clears Corporal Vasquez and Corporal Schnell of criminal wrongdoing, lifting a nearly two-year legal cloud and restoring them to the force without liability. Whether the case will influence future attorney general charging decisions remains an open question for Maryland’s broader accountability efforts.
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Going after those that protect us is a mental disease.
Were they on paid leave? If not, do they get 2 years back pay?
let’s hope so
if you agree with all the laws that Maryland has, I wonder if you can function in the world.
insane asylums — is that where those go that agree with the laws a state has?