Trials & Litigation
Cross-Examination Gone Bad: Angry Witness Accuses Lawyer of Dealing Drugs
Posted Aug 21, 2008, 06:44 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
A Michigan defense lawyer’s cross-examination of an informant went awry yesterday when the witness became angry and said the lawyer questioning him had sold drugs.
Informant David Maki’s outburst came after defense lawyer Tim Barkovic called him a liar and a snitch, the Detroit Free Press reports. Maki “got angry and said defiantly on the stand that Barkovic had sold drugs, after which the judge dismissed the jury,” the story reports.
Barkovic is representing a co-defendant accused of felony murder in a store robbery that left one clerk dead and another injured. Jurors were instructed to ignore the comments by Maki.
Judge Donald Miller of Macomb Circuit Court denied the co-defendant’s request for a new lawyer, the Detroit News reports.
Barkovic says the charge of selling drugs is ridiculous and sought a mistrial. Miller also denied that request, the Detroit Free Press reports in an updated account.
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