A former Prince George's County police officer who shot and killed a Marlo furniture delivery man is seeking a new trial and a reduction in his original sentence.
Keith Washington, who was also a county homeland security official, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and first-degree assault in the January 2007 shooting, in which Brandon Clark was killed and a second delivery man, Robert White, was wounded in Washington's Accokeek home.
Washington claimed the men attacked him first and he fired in self-defense.
His wife, Stacy Washington, testified on his behalf in 2009. "I and my daughter are both downstairs," she said. "My husband is upstairs with them. He sees one of the men coming out of my daughter's bedroom and asked them to leave the house. They did not. Instead, they attacked him."
"He's seeking a new trial based on the fact that he claims that his attorneys didn't represent him appropriately in his first trial,” state’s attorney spokesman John Erzen said. “He is seeking a reduction in his sentence and he is seeking a review by a three-judge panel of his sentence."
Washington's new lawyer argues there were 23 errors in his trial and that his former defense attorneys failed to give him adequate representation, making mistakes by failing to call witnesses who would have supported Washington’s claim that the two movers who were much bigger than Washington attacked him, beat him and that he shot them in self-defense.
David Jordan Jr. -- a paramedic on the ambulance that responded to the shooting the night it happened -- testified Wednesday Washington looked like he had been in a fight, News4's Chris Gordon reported.
"He had swelling underneath his eyes and swelling in the lip, and from my experience, yes, it looked like he'd been hit more than once," Jordan said.
Keith Washington's post-conviction hearing in Prince George's County continues Thursday.
He was convicted in 2008 of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of first-degree assault and use of a handgun. He is serving a 45-year sentence.
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