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The family of Carol Marie Brown broke into tears Friday afternoon as a jury of seven men and five women announced in Washington County Circuit Court that they had found Darrol Chris Sands not guilty in her 2008 slaying.
The jury deliberated for 7 1/2 hours over two days before finding Sands, 44, not guilty of first- and second-degree murder. The former Hagerstown man bowed his head and appeared to cry as the verdict was read.
Brown, 22, was found in the bathtub of her Mitchell Avenue home by her mother on the night of April 19, 2008. The mother of two had been strangled and stabbed a dozen times, according to forensic testimony during the eight-day trial.
Although Sands was found not guilty of killing Brown, he was not freed. He is serving a 10-year state prison sentence for distribution of cocaine arising from a 2010 arrest by the Washington County Narcotics Task Force.
Brown’s family members declined to be interviewed as they left the courthouse. Several jurors also indicated they did not want to talk as they walked away from the building in downtown Hagerstown.
“I was floored. ... Wow,” said one of the alternate jurors who returned to court to hear the verdict. Although she was not involved in the deliberations, the woman said she would have voted for a guilty verdict.
The jury began deliberations Thursday evening and resumed Friday morning, sending a note to Judge John H. McDowell at 12:30 p.m. that they were at an impasse. McDowell told the jury to go back to deliberations and attempt to reach a verdict, which it did at about 3 p.m.
Evidence presented in the prosecution’s case included vaginal swabs from Brown that had Sands’ semen, as well as his DNA on a bed sheet. Sands’ left palm print was found on the rim of the bathtub.
Sands, who lived across the street, testified that he had consensual sex with Brown the night before her body was discovered and that he washed himself afterward by the bathtub.
Sands testified he had sex with Brown three times between February and March 18, 2008, paying her in cash or crack cocaine. He also said he paid her for sex on April 19.
March 18 was the day Brown was released on bond after being charged with drug possession in a March 17 raid of her home by the county narcotics task force.
Sands was one of the first people to enter the bathroom after Brown’s mother came outside screaming on April 19. He testified during the trial that he might have left his palm print on the tub when he leaned over to look at the body.
‘Reasonable doubt’
Defense attorney James J. Podlas also presented witnesses who testified that a number of other people could have been involved in Brown’s death, including a “Martinsburg trio” with the street names of “Ghost,” “Q” and “Fresh.”
Hagerstown detectives had testified that the men had been persons of interest, but were later eliminated as possible suspects.
“This case had a strong West Virginia connection,” Podlas said.
The men from Martinsburg also had connections to New York, he said.
During the trial, some witnesses testified they heard Brown’s mother, Marcella Maphis, scream about “New York boys” after discovering the body, something she denied when she was on the stand.
“I think the key was there was a sea of reasonable doubt. It’s the concept of reasonable doubt that prevents the conviction of an innocent man,” Podlas said about the acquittal.
“I think the police got focused in the wrong direction here,” he said. “They didn’t do the kind of investigation they could have done to flush out these other subjects.”
“We are disappointed. We are proud of the work the police did in this case, and we were proud to try this case,” Assistant State’s Attorney Gina Cirincion said. “There is no explanation for this verdict.”
“I have sensed in my career that a jury is looking for the state to literally hand them everything outlined, highlighted, and a videotape of the crime, to answer every question they have so that their job is easy,” said Deputy State’s Attorney Joseph Michael, who tried the case with Cirincion.
“I respect the jury and appreciate their hard work,” Michael said.
Protective order
Not available to the jury was an application for a protective order that Darrol Sands’ wife, Lori Sands, filed with Washington County District Court on June 1, 2009, more than a year after Brown’s death.
On June 5, 2009, she filed a complaint in district court alleging he violated the order.
Lori Sands wrote that they had a telephone conversation about money that ended with him hanging up.
“He then called leaving a message stating I better have his money. I can’t live in that house by myself or they will find me like they found Carol,” Lori Sands wrote in the complaint, referring to Carol Brown’s murder.
Lori Sands gave the message to police, she wrote.
Darrol Sands was found guilty of violating the protective order and was sentenced in August 2009 to 90 days in jail with 60 days suspended, court records said.
“There is a host of information that is not admissible in a criminal case, especially those prior bad acts a defendant may have committed that are similar to the act for which he is on trial,” Michael said when asked about the document.
