Robert Carter Testimonial
My name is Robert Carter. I sat over at the Baltimore City Jail for 21 months waiting for trial on 1 degree murder, conspiracy to Commit 1′ degree murder and handgun charges. The prosecutor offered me deals if I would take life and suspend all but 40 years. As I was in my 20’s at the time, the idea of spending the next 40 years in prison did not appeal to me, so rejected that offer.
A good friend of mine by the name of Corey referred me to Brad MacFee, Sr. Corey said Brad had beaten a murder rap for him and should talk to him. On the first visit with Brad we talked for over an hour about my case, and I liked what he had to say. He was confident that he could win the case. I wanted his help, but my family didn’t have the money he needed to do a case this serious, so he worked with them and allowed them to make payments over time. Every time my family or called he either answered the phone or got right back to us. He did a great deal of work preparing for trial and kept me informed about what he was doing, what he was learning and how it would affect my case.
On August 18, 2014, we finally went to trial before Judge Jeannie Hong. Brad helped me pick my jury. After that, the State started putting on witness after witness. There were about 13 in all, and 2 of them claimed to be eyewitnesses. Brad focused his efforts on those 2 and told me that the other ones didn’t matter as they saw and knew nothing other than what the 2 eyewitnesses had told them. When Brad was finished with the eyewitnesses, I couldn’t believe it. It was almost as if they were witnesses for me instead of against me. Once he got done with them, he was then able to use the differences in their stories and the confusion about their accounts to convince the jury that the only way to convict me was to believe them, and because their stories were so different, there was no way they should be able to do that. In fact, he told the jury that if they believed one of the eyewitnesses, then they couldn’t possibly believe the other, and if they believed the 2″ eyewitness, which meant that the other eyewitness had to be wrong. I was amazed at how he made the eyewitnesses practically meaningless in the case.
At the end of all of the evidence, Brad did his best Work, which was his closing argument. I could see the jurors listening to him and nodding their heads as though everything he was saying was making perfect sense to them. He told them that the state entered over 50 pieces of evidence in the case against me and he didn’t object to a single piece, “Because none of it matters.” He told them to go to the jury room and take their time and look over all of it very carefully, because of they do, they will realize that the only evidence that matters at al actually proves that “didn’t commit the murder.” He even dealt with the fact that I had given a taped statement, explaining away the problem by telling them it was meaningless.
After closing arguments the jury went to the jury room to discuss the case. Within 45 minutes they asked a question, and within 10 minutes after that they told the judge that they had made a decision. I will tell you that until you have stood at table watching 12 people come into the room that has your entire future in their hands, you have not known what real fear is. I was shaking as the judge asked them if they had a verdict. When the speaker for the jury said “Not Guilty,” I heard my mother start to cry behind me. I also heard the family of the guy that was killed doing the same thing. There were sheriff’s everywhere and the whole scene was crazy. All I can say is that I was kind of stunned. I had never been so scared one second and so relieved the next.
Now that a week or so has passed and I have had a chance to think about the trial over and over, the thing that sticks out to me is that Brad MacFee fought for my life like he was fighting for his own. I can tell that he hates to lose, as in he doesn’t hate it a little bit… he hates it more than anything. Because of that, he works very hard and makes sure that his clients get the best defense possible. I can tell you that I was so impressed with his planning and effort that in the middle of the trial I leaned over and told him that even if we lost, I was very happy with the work he did for me and my family. We will all be thankful forever.
If you are in trouble, I would recommend that you consider using Brad as your lawyer. No one can win every case, but I believe that if Brad can’t win it, chances are it couldn’t be won.
– Robert Carter