For the second time this year, a jury could not reach a unanimous verdict in the case of a Baltimore Police officer who’s charged with taking a swing at a man in the entrance of The Johns Hopkins Hospital while off-duty.

Circuit Judge Jeannie J. Hong on Wednesday declared a mistrial after the panel submitted a note indicating that it was deadlocked following more than three hours of deliberation. The jury wrote that members voted 11-1 in favor of acquitting Officer Troy Anthony on a charge of second-degree assault.

“You have asked so many good questions,” Hong told the jury before dismissing the panel shortly after noon. “I want to thank you for your service.”

Anthony, 43, was acquitted earlier this year of charges of making a false statement to a law enforcement officer and misconduct in office. The Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Office decided to retry him on the count of second-degree assault after that jury could not reach a unanimous verdict.

On May 19, 2020, Anthony testified, he went to check on a boy with whom he was close with at the hospital. He said he wanted to find out what was happening.

Later, he testified, the boy’s father, Dustin Jackson Sr., got into a fighting stance and started punching him.

“He swung first,” Anthony testified. “At that point, I wasn’t just going to stand there and get beat up.”

Chaz Ball, Anthony’s attorney, argued that his client acted in self-defense.

The issue in the case, he said, was, “Who swung first?”

“They’re asking you to take away Mr. Anthony’s name,” Ball said in his closing argument. “The state has the burden — before you take away someone’s name.”

In her closing argument, Assistant State’s Attorney Kimberly Rothwell contended that the evidence showed that Anthony was the aggressor.

Rothwell called a former security guard at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, Louis Dixon, and replayed previous testimony from a Baltimore City Department of Social Services employee, Angela McTier-Dukes. That testimony was in addition to playing surveillance video from outside the hospital, though it does not depict the fight.

“He knows better,” said Rothwell, who noted that Anthony is a police officer. “The defendant is guilty. He’s taken away his own name.”

Jackson did not testify at trial.

In a statement, Zy Richardson, a spokesperson for the Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Office, said, “Unfortunately, as in many cases, the witnesses failed to appear in court illustrating our continued challenges with cooperation.”

Richardson said the case was previously tried in March and ended with a hung jury with one dissenting juror.

“We will again assess the evidence as we continue in our pursuit of justice for the victim,” Richardson said. “We are confident our tenacity will ensure that justice is ultimately delivered.”

Anthony joined the Baltimore Police Department in 2014. He made $86,025.40 in gross pay in fiscal year 2021, according to the city’s salary database.

dylan.segelbaum@thebaltimorebanner.com

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