Peterson v. State

The underlying facts of this case are not complicated. The setting was a pre-arranged drug deal in Prince George’s County. The two purchasers intended to steal the drugs without paying for them. The seller came with fake pills. As the ill-fated transaction proceeded inside a car, things went awry. A gun appeared and the seller was fatally shot in the driver’s seat. The question at trial was whether Petitioner Jerrod M. Peterson, one of the purchasers, had pulled the trigger.

The prosecution presented the testimony of several eye witnesses — a man who had accompanied the deceased seller, the…