Jury acquits man of murder charge
A Roxbury man who testified that a Boston homicide detective manipulated him into falsely confessing he killed a teenager in 2004 was acquitted yesterday of first-degree murder charges by a Suffolk Superior Court jury.
After the verdict, Brandon Maryland, 21, walked out of the courthouse with his jubilant relatives, a free man for the first time in nearly 3 1/2 years.
His lawyer, Larry Tipton, said police and prosecutors had tried an innocent man and allowed the person who fatally stabbed 15-year-old Shawn Adams at the MBTA Dudley bus station to avoid justice.
Tipton contended that Boston police Sergeant Detective Daniel Keeler, the lead homicide detective on the case, ignored evidence pointing to another suspect because he had duped Maryland into confessing.
But Jake Wark, a spokesman for Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley, said police and prosecutors would not have tried Maryland if they did not believe he killed Adams.
"We would not bring an innocent man to trial," Wark said. "The confession speaks for itself."
According to the defense and prosecutors, the key evidence against Maryland was his confession, which was played for the jury. In it, Maryland admitted he was at the station and involved in a melee that ended in Adams's death.
Maryland, according to Tipton, took the stand and convinced jurors that he was being truthful when he testified that his confession was a lie. Maryland testified Keeler promised him he would face a maximum of 20 years in prison for manslaughter if he confessed, Tipton said.
Tipton said Maryland decided he would go along with Keeler, to avoid a first-degree murder conviction, which carries life imprisonment without parole.
Yesterday's acquittal was at least the ninth time this year that Suffolk jurors have rejected evidence from police and prosecutors in a first-degree murder case. Juries have convicted in at least 25 cases, officials have said.
Maryland's acquittal is also at least the second time in recent years that jurors acquitted a defendant who gave a tape-recorded confession to Keeler.
John R. Ellement can be reached at ellement@globe.com. 
