Anton J.S. Keating - Irvin Lee Wilson

Anton J.S. Keating - Irvin Lee Wilson New Trial Granted Death Row Convict

A 48-year-old man, convicted of murdering an alleged city narcotics kingpin in 1969 and sentenced to death in early 1970, had been granted a new trial on grounds the assistant prosecutor who handled the case fomented inflammatory publicity about the case and subsequently misled the jury at the trial.

Queen Anne's County Circuit Court Judge B. Hackett Turner Jr. Ordered the new trial for Irving Lee Wilson, who has been on the penitentiary's death row since March 1970, following his conviction on charges he murdered Walter (Kidd) Henderson, 43, in August 1969.

Turner ruled that former city Asst. State's Atty. Fred K. Grant, who is counsel to the Law Enforcement Planning Commission of Boise, Idaho, "directly violated" the American Bar Assn.'s standards concerning prejudicial pre-trial publicity and later gave "careless, doubtful testimony" when called as a defense witness by Wilson's lawyer.

Turner also held that Wilson's lawyer at the time of the December 1969 murder trial, Sheldon Rubenstein, although "sincere," failed to adequately represent the defendant.

Wilson's conviction was upheld by the state Court of Appeals in April 1971, but Asst. Public Defender Anton J. S. Keating, who handled the accused man's most recent post-conviction hearing, said the Court of Appeals did not have the evidence of Grant's alleged prejudicial pretrial activities.

Wilson was convicted by a jury of first-degree murder in the shooting death of Henderson who lived in the 4700 Block Belle Ave. The shooting took place at the Spot Bar, in the 1500 block Pennsylvania Ave.

Then Circuit Court Judge J. DeWeese Carter of Caroline County imposed the death penalty on Wilson.

Carter, subsequently elevated to the state Court of Special Appeals, and who has since retired, never commuted Wilson's sentence to life imprisonment following the U.S. Supreme Court's rulings which effectively abolished the death penalty.

In an 86-page memorandum and opinion, Turner severely criticized the manner in which Grant, who was once head of the state's attorney's office's Organized Crime Division, dealt with the press and conducted the trial.

The judge held that Carter his former colleague, was "unduly influenced by the careless, doubtful testimony of the prosecutor as a defense witness and that such testimony did influence the court in imposing the death penalty."

Reprinted from The News American Wednesday, June 11, 1975

Killer Gets New Trial, 3 Years of Probation

A convicted murderer who was on death row for two years was freed on probation yesterday after he pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the case.

Irvin Lee Wilson, 51, had been reprieved from the gas chamber and had won a new trial after he was sentenced to death for the killing of Walter (Kidd) Henderson, 43, a west side underworld figure who was gunned down in a Pennsylvania Avenue tavern August 18, 1969.

Wilson, of the 2800 Block Greenlawn road, entered the guilty plea before Judge David Ross in Criminal Court. The judge imposed a 10-year term, gave Wilson credit for the time he served until bail was posted in July, 1975, and suspended the remainder of the sentence while placing Wilson on three years' probation.

Wilson pleaded guilty under legal provisions that allow him to claim that the kiling was not manslaughter but conceding that the state could prove it against him anyway. Under the plea-bargaining agreement, he avoided the possibility of being convicted of the more serious crime of murder.

The late Judge J. DeWeese Carter imposed the death penalty on Wilson in March, 1970, three months after the trial was conducted in Caroline county.

The state Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction in 1971, but the Supreme Court voided pending death sentences in 1972.

Wilson was granted a new trial after Anton J. S. Keating, an assistant public defender, uncovered evidence that the original prosecutor had misled the jury and had fostered prejudicial publicity before the trial.

Judge B. Hackett Turner, in an 86-page opinion granting the new trial, criticiezed the former prosecutor, Fred Kelly Grant, and Wilson's former attorney, Sheldon Rubenstein.

Wilson claimed that he acted in self-defense in shooting his employer in the numbers-running and narcotics-peddling business. He said he wanted to leave the job but Mr. Henderson begged hime to stay on.

After three thugs shot up Wilson's car, Wilson telephoned Mr. Henderson and agreed to a meeting on the fateful day.

At the bar, Wilson said, he asked for the money that would get him out of the business, but Mr. Henderson began reaching in his shirt.

Wilson said he had seen Mr. Henderson shoot several persons after going through the same motions, so he shot Mr. Henderson four times and immediately went to the police station and surrendered.

Reprinted from The Evening Sun Tuesday, May 10, 1977

Wilson released on probation

A 51-year-old man who spent five years on death row in the Maryland Penetentiary before he was granted a new trial on murder charges was released on probation Monday after he entered a guilty plea to manslaughter charges.

Irvin Lee Wilson, convicted of shooting an alleged drug ring kingpin in a Pennsylvania tavern in 1969, entered the plea before Judge David Ross and was granted probation for the three years remaining in a 10 year sentence.

Wilson was granted a new trial in 1975 by Judge B. Hackett Turner, Jr., of Queen Anne's County after Anton J. S. Keating, a public defender, argued that the assistant state's attorney fomented inflammatory publicity about the case and subsequently misled the jury.

Judge Turner granted the new trial despite a 1971 decision by the Maryland Court of Appeals that upheld Wilson's conviction. In making his ruling, Judge Turner said it was the first time the evidence of misconduct at the trial had been brought before him.

Wilson, who was described as lieutenant of the victim, Walter (Kidd) Henderson, 43, said he was trying to get out of the drug business and was threatened by Henderson. The victim was shot four times and immediately afterward, Wilson surrendered at the Western district police station.

Prosecutors at Wilson's trial in 1969 alleged the defendant was trying to gain control of the drug distribution organization said to be headed by Henderson.

Reprinted from The Star-Democrat Wednesday, May 11, 1977