State Rests In Suburban Hospital Murder Trial

Update, 4 p.m.: Following five days of testimony, the state rested its case against Suburban Hospital employee Keith D. Little Monday afternoon.

Little, of Lanham, is accused of killing his supervisor Roosevelt Brockington, Jr. in the hospital's basement boiler room Jan. 1. Brockington was found stabbed over 70 times.

Charles Jackson, another employee who worked with Little in the boiler room, testified Monday that he saw Little washing gloves and a mask in the boiler room Jan. 5, days after the murder.

After the jury was dismissed for the day, the defense argued in favor of a motion for a judgement of acquittal, arguing the state did not present sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Little is guilty of the crime.

Judge Marielsa A. Bernard denied the motion, and the trial is expected to continue Tuesday with testimony from defense witnesses.

Adam Harris, a public defender representing Little, argued that there was no connection between the mask and the gloves discovered Jan. 5 and the Jan. 1 murder. Last week, Bernard disallowed testimony from forensic biologist Erin Farr regarding her opinion that the victim's blood was present on one of the gloves -- a move that Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy said would

"There's no nexus between these three items [the mask and gloves] and the murder," Harris said.

Harris argued that a "relatively large group" of people had access to the boiler room Jan. 1. He also pointed to testimony Monday by Farr, who testified that an unidentified female was the major contributor to a DNA profile found on the interior of the mask.

Farr also testified that Brockington's DNA was discovered on a brown stain on the glove -- a stain she didn't refer to as blood.

In addition, Farr testified Little's DNA was not discovered on the handle of the knife that was used to kill Brockington.

"The one person we know did not put their hand on the murder weapon is Mr. Little," said Harris, calling the state's case "circumstantial."

Prosecutor George Simms, arguing for the state, countered that Little acted in an "incriminating" manner by washing items that contained the victim's DNA. He also said the crime showed evidence of premeditation because a knife and glove were brought to the scene, and that the crime must have been perpetrated by someone with inside knowledge of the hospital.

The defense is expected to call a Suburban Hospital neighbor to the stand Tuesday who said he saw a man who didn't match Little's description walking away from the hospital the morning of the murder.

Update, 1:07 p.m.: Suburban Hospital employee Charles Jackson took the stand Monday, describing seeing defendant Keith D. Little washing gloves and a mask in the boiler room Jan. 5, days after the murder of supervisor Roosevelt Brockington, Jr.

Jackson, who was the only other employee working with Little in the boiler room that day, said he noticed the gloves and mask inside a plastic bucket beneath a valve that was running 220-degree, chemically-treated water.

"I looked into the bucket and I said, 'What is this?'" Jackson testified. "Mr. Little came over to say, 'I'll take that.'"

Jackson said he saw Little dump the contents of the bucket into a trash bin. He looked inside the bin, and again saw the gloves and mask, he said. "I just wanted to make sure I've seen what I've seen," Jackson testified.

Jackson said he returned to the office to call his wife to tell her what had happened. Little returned to the office, and the two continued to work for several hours, Jackson said. "At this point, I'm real jittery, real nervous," Jackson said. "I'm not really knowing how I'm going to handle it without alerting Keith."

When Little left to check on his car, which was parked on the street, Jackson said he called maintenance manager Bill Mathews. "That's when Bill told us to get out of the boiler room and call security," Jackson said. "I didn't want to alert Keith -- I didn't want him to know I was the one who called security."

Forensic biologist Erin Farr also concluded her testimony at the trial Monday.

Patch is reporting live from Montgomery County Circuit Court in Rockville. This post will be updated.

Original post, 6 a.m.: The Suburban Hospital murder trial will continue Monday with further testimony from Erin Farr, the forensic biologist whose opinion that victim Roosevelt Brockington's blood was found on gloves uncovered at the scene has become a center of controversy in the case.

Prosecutors argue that Keith D. Little of Lanham stabbed Brockington more than 70 times in the hospital's basement boiler room Jan. 1.

Judge Marielsa Bernard ruled last week that Farr could not present to the jury her opinion that a stain on the glove is human blood, a move that Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy said would

Little was seen by another hospital boiler room employee washing the gloves and a mask in chemically treated water Jan. 5, several days after the murder.

The defense has argued that recent "confirmatory" tests conducted on the stain proved the stain on the glove is not blood, and that initial tests conducted on the glove were not conclusive enough to prove the stain was blood. The DNA profile from the stain that matched Brockington, according to the defense, could have come from a different source, such as saliva or mucous.

The defense repeatedly objected to the prosecution's line of questioning Friday as Farr took the stand.

Charles Jackson, the Suburban Hospital employee who said he saw Little washing the gloves, is also expected to testify Monday, along with Montgomery County Police detectives Dimitry Ruvin and Randy Kucsan.

Patch will be reporting live from Montgomery County Circuit Court in Rockville during the trial. Follow us on Twitter for real time updates.