| On the afternoon of November 8, 2012, the body of 26-year-old Warren Boone was discovered in a wooded area near an apartment complex in the 5100 block of Goodnow Road in Baltimore, Maryland. He had been shot twice at close range, once in the head and once in the neck.
Baltimore police detective Brian Kershaw went to the home where Boone’s mother lived to notify her of his death. She informed Kershaw that at about 2 p.m., Rachelle Bellot, who was the mother of a child with Boone, had called to report that Boone’s car, a silver Lexus, had been set ablaze on Purnell Drive, about two miles from Boone’s mother’s home. The car was unoccupied. The car was towed, but yielded no evidence as it had burned down to the frame.
At about 9 p.m., Bellot returned to the home where she lived with Boone. Although there was no sign of forced entry, someone had been inside. The home had been ransacked. Bellot told police that Boone sold marijuana and that on November 7 around 6 or 7 p.m., he had spoken to her on the phone. He said he was going to “make a run.” He said he was going to meet “Black” and then come home. Bellot believed this was about a drug transaction. She did not know “Black,” but had seen him in the past.
Bellot told Kershaw that Boone kept a house key on the ring with his car keys. She gave Kershaw a photograph of Boone with “Black.” Kershaw determined that “Black” was a man named Richard Pope.
Pope told Kershaw that he had introduced Boone to 26-year-old Ronald Cornish, who was interested in selling marijuana. Pope said that after he introduced them, he left. When Kershaw asked for a phone number for Cornish, Pope showed him a number on his cell phone for a listing called “Rowe.” Kershaw obtained cell phone records for the number listed and ultimately determined that the phone was being used in Georgia.
On November 29, 2012, Cornish was arrested in Marietta, Georgia, on a traffic violation. He was taken to the Fulton County Jail because he had an outstanding warrant on a domestic violence charge in Baltimore. While he was being held, fingerprint examiners reported that he was the source of fingerprints found at a pawn shop that had been robbed on September 18, 2012, police said.
Police said that in the robbery, Cornish had dressed as a woman and accompanied a man into the pawn shop. As they talked to the owner, Cornish reached into a purse, pulled out a gun, and announced a robbery. The owner had been marched into a back room and bound with duct tape. Police said Cornish and his accomplice fled with jewelry and cash. He was tried and convicted of the robbery, and he was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Cornish was subsequently brought to Baltimore where he was charged with first-degree murder, using of a weapon to commit a crime, illegal possession of a weapon, and transporting a weapon in a vehicle, in the killing of Boone.
On November 1, 2016, Cornish went to trial in Baltimore City Circuit Court. On the second day of the trial, the prosecution informed Cornish’s defense attorney that Pope was going to testify and say for the first time that he had been present when Boone was killed. Pope, the prosecution said, was going to testify that Cornish shot Boone.
Cornish’s trial defense attorney did not request a recess to assess Pope’s planned testimony, a decision she later asserted was a mistake that resulted in Cornish’s trial being unfairly prejudiced.
Pope testified that he knew Cornish because, at the time of the murder, Pope was dating Cornish’s sister. Pope said he and Boone were friends and sold marijuana together. Pope said that when Cornish asked if he knew anyone who wanted to buy his marijuana, he suggested Boone. Pope testified that he arranged a meeting on November 7 between Boone and Cornish at a Bumper to Bumper automotive repair shop. He said a woman named Melissa picked up Pope and Cornish about 7 or 7:30 p.m. and dropped them off at Bumper to Bumper, where they waited for approximately 15 to 20 minutes for Boone to arrive. Pope said he got into the front seat of Boone’s car, and Cornish got into the back seat.
Cornish gave directions to where he had his marijuana, Pope said. When they arrived at the apartment complex on Goodnow Road, Pope said he got out and was lighting a cigarette when he heard two gunshots.
“It happened real fast,” Pope said.
According to Pope, Cornish then dragged Boone’s body out of the car. Pope said he helped move the body “[t]o the brink of the grass area,” and that Cornish then dragged the body into the woods. Then, Pope said, Cornish took cash, “anywhere from [$]1,000 to $2,000,” from Boone’s pockets.
Pope said he was in shock and obeyed Cornish’s commands. He said Cornish had a silver revolver in the front of his pants. Cornish then got behind the wheel of Boone’s Lexus, and Pope got in as well. Eventually, Pope got home.
Pope said that on November 8, Cornish showed up in the Lexus and drove to Boone’s apartment. Another car followed them. Pope said they used a key from Boone’s keyring to enter the apartment to look for money and drugs but found nothing. They then drove past the woods and saw that police were on the scene. So they went to a gas station and filled up gas containers, then went to a different wooded area, and “doused the whole car down with gas, the whole inside and lit it.”
Pope said they left in the other vehicle that had been following them. He said he and Cornish parted, but a day later, on November 9, Cornish said he was going to Atlanta.
Regarding the change in his testimony, Pope admitted that he did not initially
tell the police “exactly everything, but [he] did tell them everything except being there.”
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Pope claimed he decided to change his story while riding to the courthouse with Detective Kershaw.
During cross-examination, Cornish’s attorney asked, “And so in the car riding here this morning is the first time that you told this version of events that you just sat here and told the ladies and gentlemen of this jury. Is that a fair statement?”
“It’s the first time I put myself at the place of the crime,” Pope said.
“And it’s the first time that you put yourself being present at the burning of the car?” the defense attorney asked.
“Yes,” Pope said.
“And it’s the first time that you said a lot of the things that you said this morning, right?”
“Just those two things,” Pope said.
Asked how the subject of changing his testimony came up, Pope said,” I can’t recall. Just came up.”
Asked why he changed his story, Pope said: “No apparent reason. I don’t know. Just decided to tell them. Right thing to do.”
During further questioning by the defense attorney, Pope admitted that he had been granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for his testimony.
Detective Kershaw testified that he requested cell phone information for Pope’s cell phone, for Boone’s phone, and for the phone number that Pope had said belonged to Cornish. Kershaw said he had a pen register installed for Cornish’s phone to track outgoing calls. Kershaw said the data showed that the phone was in Marietta and Smyrna, Georgia.
Kershaw also testified that he was “shocked” by Pope’s revelation that he was present at the murder scene.
Detective Albert Rotell, a member of the Advanced Technical Team of the Baltimore Police Department, testified as an expert in the field of call detail records, call analysis, and cellphone plotting. Detective Rotell explained that cell phone locations can only be tracked when they are generated by an “event,” like receiving or sending a phone call or text message or surfing the internet, which would use a cell site, and create a record of the individual’s location. Detective Rotell acknowledged that he had “no way of knowing who had any of these phones that were moving on that night.”
Detective Rotell reviewed phone records for the phone number that the prosecution said was Boone’s phone. That phone registered its last outgoing call at 7:09 p.m. At 8:55 p.m., Boone’s cellphone utilized a cell tower near the 5100 block of Goodnow Road, which was where Boone’s body was found. From 9:05 to 11:21 p.m., there was one incoming and five routed calls, meaning that the calls went to voicemail.
Detective Rotell said phone records of Pope’s phone placed him near Bessemer Avenue – where he lived with Cornish’s sister. At approximately 7:24 p.m. At 8:29 p.m., his phone used the cell site directly next to the 5100 block of Goodnow Avenue. At 9:29 p.m., Pope made an outgoing call that utilized a tower near Bessemer Avenue.
Detective Rotell said records for Cornish’s number showed that on November 7, 2012, from 6:09 to 6:39 p.m., three incoming calls used a cell site near Bessemer Avenue. Rotell said there was no location on this cell phone between 6:39 and 8:33 p.m., indicating that there was no cell phone activity during this time. At 8:33 p.m., the cellphone moved to I-895, which was just north of Bessemer Avenue and near Goodnow Road, Rotell said. Between 8:49 and 11:38 p.m., the cellphone again used different cell sites near Bessemer Avenue. On November 8, 2012, from approximately 9:48 to 9:53 a.m., the cellphone made calls that registered near Bessemer Avenue. Then, at approximately 10:02 a.m., the cellphone moved through Baltimore toward the East side, and between 10:23 and 11:47 a.m., the cellphone registered near West Belvedere Avenue.
The prosecution contended that these records buttressed Pope’s testimony because it traced a route from the Bumper to Bumper to Goodnow Road, then to Boone’s house, and to the gas station where they purchased gas to burn the Lexus.
Dr. Stephanie Dean, an assistant medical examiner, testified that Boone was shot in the back of the head behind his right ear and on the right side of his neck. She said that gunpowder on the right side of Boone’s head indicated he had been shot at close range.
Detective Kershaw testified that the police firearms unit determined that Boone had been killed with a .38 caliber handgun. No gun was ever recovered.
On November 3, 2016, the jury convicted Cornish of first-degree murder, illegal use of a weapon, illegal possession of a weapon, and carrying a weapon in a vehicle. Cornish was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
On January 26, 2017, Cornish’s attorney filed a motion for a new trial. The motion said that the prosecution had failed to disclose a statement that Pope gave in May 2013. At the time, Pope and Cornish were being investigated for unrelated federal bank robberies and other crimes.
In this statement, Pope said that Cornish had brought 20 pounds of marijuana from Georgia and that he had promised to give Pope $100 for every pound that could be sold. In this statement, Pope said he connected Boone and Cornish, but did not accompany them anywhere. He said he learned about Boone’s death the following day from a Facebook posting. And he said he didn’t know what happened to Boone’s Lexus – he thought Cornish had “parked it somewhere.” Pope said that he was not involved in the murder. He said he had never been to Boone’s house and did not know whether Cornish had ever been there.
The defense argued that this statement should have been disclosed because it could have been used to impeach Pope
The motion also asserted that Cornish’s trial defense attorney had provided an inadequate legal defense by failing to adequately prepare to cross-examine Pope. The defense lawyer had provided an affidavit admitting her performance was deficient and that she had failed to adequately prepare for trial.
The prosecution claimed it had been unaware of the statement by Pope because it was made to federal agents about crimes that had nothing to do with Boone’s murder.
The defense subsequently supplemented the motion for a new trial with an affidavit from William Kanwisher, an investigator for the federal public defender. Kanwisher said he interviewed Pope on December 9, 2016 – five weeks after Cornish was convicted. Pope, who was in custody on unrelated charges, said that on the day he testified at the trial, Detective Kershaw and another detective picked him up at 4:30 a.m. to drive him to the courthouse.
After driving for about five minutes, Kershaw pulled over and told Pope that cellphone records showed he was present at the scene of the murder. At that point, Pope said he admitted to Kershaw that he had been present. Kershaw threatened to charge Pope with murder if he refused to testify about being present. Pope said Kershaw called the prosecutor who agreed to grant Pope immunity.
On March 15, 2017, the motion was denied without a hearing. In January 2018, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals upheld that ruling.
However, in October 2018, the Maryland Court of Appeals reversed that ruling and ordered a hearing on the motion. The court held that the May 2013 statement from Pope “directly impeached Mr. Pope’s trial testimony and could have affected his credibility with the jury.”
The court noted that Kershaw’s trial testimony that he was “shocked” at Pope’s disclosure was suspect, given that Kershaw said that he confronted Pope with cellphone evidence showing he was present at the murder scene, and also said that he was going to charge Pope with the crime unless he testified.
A hearing was held on the motion in November 2021. Kanwisher testified that he had first interviewed Pope in October 2016, prior to Cornish’s trial. At that point, Pope said he did not want to testify against Cornish and maintained he was just an intermediary between Cornish and Boone.
Kanwisher testified that he attended Cornish’s trial and was surprised when he learned Pope was going to testify. He said he advised Cornish’s trial defense attorney to seek a postponement, but she declined.
Kanwisher testified that when he visited Pope after the trial and asked him why he changed his mind, Pope explained how Kershaw threatened to charge him with murder. Pope said that he testified to avoid being charged, not because it was the right thing to do, as he had testified at Cornish’s trial.
Cornish’s trial defense attorney testified that she was unaware of the May 2013 statement from Pope and that it would have made a difference in her cross-examination. She said that Pope’s trial testimony was “a 180 [degree change] from anything that he had ever said before.” She said her decision not to ask for a postponement amounted to ineffective assistance of counsel because she was “unable to effectively cross-examine Mr. Pope in the courtroom that day…It was error on my part to go forward that day.”
On November 23, 2021, the motion for a new trial was denied. The judge said the May 2013 statement was “merely cumulative impeachment evidence” that did not materially differ from Pope’s other statements. While it may have “chipped away at Mr. Pope’s overall credibility, the judge said it did not “reach the critical mass” necessary to change the outcome of the trial.
Cornish appealed.
In September 2022, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals overturned the trial court ruling, vacated Cornish’s convictions, and ordered a new trial.
“The impact of the new evidence, that Mr. Pope changed his testimony after being confronted with evidence showing that he was at the scene of the crime, threatened with being charged if he did not testify against appellant, and told that he would be given immunity if he did testify, was significantly different from the testimony that the jury heard, i.e., that he changed his story because it was the ‘[r]ight thing to do,’” the appeals court ruled. “The new evidence, indicating that Mr. Pope changed his story, not because it was the right thing to do, but to avoid being charged himself, was significant evidence regarding the credibility of the only witness that directly put [Cornish] at the scene of the crime.”
In June 2024, Cornish went to trial a second time. On June 13, 2024, the jury acquitted him. Cornish was not released, however. He remained incarcerated in Georgia under the name of Ronald Eaton, serving a sentence of life in prison without parole for the pawn shop robbery in September 2012.
– Maurice Possley
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