Judge hands down life sentence without chance of parole.

By Dennis O'Brien

Sun Staff

May 1, 2001

In what a prosecutor termed a "hollow victory," Richard Antonio Moore pleaded

guilty yesterday to killing Baltimore County police Sgt. Bruce A. Prothero

during a jewelry store robbery 15 months ago and was sentenced to life

without the possibility of parole. The plea allowed Moore to avoid a possible

death sentence and came the day before opening statements were to begin in

his trial in Harford County Circuit Court. Moore, 30, declined to comment and

showed little emotion yesterday after admitting he fired the three shots that

killed Prothero during a robbery Feb. 7, 2000, at J. Brown Jewelers in

Pikesville, where the 35-year-old father of five was working part-time as a

security guard. The victim's widow, Ann Prothero, rushed from the courtroom

in tears as a prosecutor described the shooting. One of the victim's sisters,

Denice Fitts, fainted as Moore was sentenced and had to be helped back to her

seat. Family members said they were told about plea negotiations late Sunday

and learned that a tentative agreement had been reached about noon yesterday.

"There's a sense of relief, but there's no real satisfaction. There never can

be," said Rick Prothero, the victim's brother. "Since this happened, our

family hasn't had a day go by that's been a good day." The case was moved to

Harford County at Moore's request because of concerns about pretrial

publicity. Moore is the fourth and final defendant to be tried and convicted

in the slaying. Accomplices Donald White and Troy White, who are not related,

were convicted by separate juries and sentenced to life without the

possibility of parole. Wesley Moore, who also was convicted by a jury of

first-degree felony murder, is scheduled to be sentenced June 5 by Baltimore

County Circuit Judge James T. Smith Jr. The Moores are half-brothers. All the

defendants are from Baltimore As the trigger man, Moore was the only one of

the four who could have been sentenced to death. Moore, wearing a gray hooded

sweatshirt and blue jeans, also pleaded guilty yesterday to armed robbery,

first- degree assault and a handgun charge. In a courtroom packed with police

and Prothero family members, Judge Emory A. Plitt Jr. expressed sympathy to

the family as he handed Moore the life sentence plus a 40-year consecutive

term for the assault, armed robbery and handgun convictions. "I'm not so

certain that there's anything anyone can do or say to ease the hurt or the

pain," Plitt said. "You will remain in my prayers as well as in the prayers

of everyone around here." Assistant State's Attorney S. Ann Brobst said she

had a strong case against Moore. Prosecutors planned to present evidence from

a jailhouse informant, ballistics reports and DNA tests to link him to the

shooting. But Brobst said she agreed with the Prothero family's decision to

accept the plea because of court rulings that have stalled executions in

Maryland in recent months and an appeals process that guarantees those

sentenced to death roughly 15 years of delays. "This is really a very hollow

victory because while it was certainly a wise decision, it isn't the most

appropriate sentence," Brobst said. She added that she would have preferred a

death sentence, but that in Maryland, capital punishment is "a sentence that

only exists on paper." Moore's attorneys, Amanda E. Bull and Samuel Truette

III, left the courtroom after the hearing and avoided reporters' questions.

They could not be reached for comment last night. Joann Prothero, the

victim's mother, said the family generally agreed that the plea was the right

thing to do. But she acknowledged that there was dissension. Lisa Ash, the

victim's sister, was one of the dissenters. She told the court during the

sentencing phase of the hearing that she would have preferred that the state

seek a death sentence. "I don't think you deserve to breathe air," she told

Moore. Displaying a leaf - mounted on white paper - from the bushes where her

brother died, Ash said she and her siblings hold on to such leaves as

memories. Looking directly at Moore, she said, "Bruce stood for everything

that was good in society. And you stand for everything that is evil." As Ash

left the stand, Moore muttered back at her, "Same to you." Copyright © 2001,

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