In retrial, judge acquits man charged in assault on pro-life protester

A Baltimore Circuit judge June 25 acquitted Patrick Brice, 28, in a retrial over whether the injuries he inflicted on pro-life protester Mark Crosby in a May 26, 2023 incident were intentional. 

In February, Brice was found guilty of two counts of second-degree assault and reckless endangerment for injuries he caused to Crosby and fellow pro-life advocate Richard Schaefer outside the Planned Parenthood Baltimore City Health Center. He is due to be sentenced Aug. 7 for those convictions.

The February jury acquitted Brice of first-degree assault charges for his actions involving Schaefer, but they could not reach a unanimous verdict on the same charge regarding his actions against Crosby. The June 25 bench trial before Circuit Judge Yvette M. Bryant was Brice’s retrial on the first-degree assault charge.

According to reporting in the Baltimore Banner, Bryant in her ruling said Crosby clearly suffered serious, protracted and permanent injuries in the unjustified assault, but that video evidence of the attack could be interpreted in more than one way.

She said Crosby’s actions that day, as shown in the surveillance video, could reflect either that he joined in to fight as Brice and Schaefer scuffled or that he engaged only to assist his friend.

In a statement provided to the Catholic Review, Crosby’s attorney, Terrell N. Roberts III, said the acquittal “was a miscarriage of justice that should never have happened.”

Roberts’ statement said, “There was no dispute that Brice caused a serious physical injury to Mark Crosby,” with evidence that Brice kicked Crosby in the face as he lay defenseless on the ground. “It was not a soft kick, but one with full force, like an NFL player kicking a 50-yard field goal.”

Crosby continues to be impaired from a fracture to the orbit around one eye that resulted from being kicked in the head, his attorney said. Testimony about those lingering effects was presented at the retrial.

Roberts called the outcome “a frank miscarriage of justice” and said it was absurd for the judge to conclude that Crosby’s actions that day amounted to “legally adequate provocation.” He said Judge Bryant “was plainly wrong and misapplied the law.”

Crosby and Schaefer continue to demonstrate at the Planned Parenthood clinic almost daily, he told the Catholic Review.

In the statement, Crosby said, “What else can you expect? It’s Baltimore City.” 

Roberts’ statement said his client’s comment is unfortunate. “Any visitor to the city has a right to expect that a judge administering the law in that city will apply the law correctly and give him the same rights as anyone else.”

Crosby said his biggest problem with the outcome is that “this judge and the assistant state’s attorney haven’t liked us from the beginning. They treat us like criminals.

“I don’t fit their profile for equal justice under the law,” he said.

He said after Brice was arrested and released without bail to await trial, the prosecutor’s office “took months to let us know,” even though Brice’s home is near the Planned Parenthood clinic where Crosby and Schaefer regularly protest.

“Brice will get the benefit of the law on this subject,” Roberts said. “Crosby, unfortunately, won’t get the benefit of a do-over.”

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