Drug Case Against Man Dropped

BALTIMORE – City prosecutors dropped drug charges yesterday against the father of the Baltimore 4-year-old who became famous last month when she was mistakenly identified as an abandoned child from New York.

Robert Andrew Persons was arrested May 7 on charges of possessing cocaine and conspiring to distribute the drug after he was in an apartment as it was raided by Baltimore police. But prosecutors later determined that those charges should never have been brought in the first place, according to Margaret T. Burns, a spokeswoman for the city state’s attorney’s office.

“The case was legally insufficient to proceed,” Burns said, and so the prosecution would not have been able to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. “After further review by the prosecution and police it was determined … that charges should not have been brought in this matter.”

Larry Rogers, an attorney for the public defender’s office, said “it was a weak case.”

The charging documents say that Persons, 37, was arrested along with three others when a second-floor apartment in the 800 block of Stoll St. was raided by police. He was found sitting on a loveseat in the living room, according to the documents.

But Burns said that it could not be established that Persons had drugs in his possession at the time of the raid, and although drugs were found in the house, none were located in the room in which he was found.

Meanwhile, Persons is fighting for custody of his daughter, Akasha, in the juvenile court system. The girl’s mother, Patricia Harper, also wants custody.

Akasha is in foster care and will remain there until the court decides the custody case, said Sue Fitzsimmons, spokeswoman for Baltimore’s Department of Social Services. “She’s fine,” Fitzsimmons said.

One of Persons’ lawyers in the custody dispute, J. Wyndal Gordon, said it is “absolutely wonderful” that the charges were dropped.

According to a statement released by Gordon on May 24, Persons was at the residence to “pick up some clothing for his daughter.”

One of Harper’s lawyers, Rebecca Cosca, said she does not think the fact that the charges against Persons were dropped will affect her client’s case.

She said social services is doing background checks and studying the homes of Akasha’s parents. The next hearing is set for June 23.

Akasha, who was 3 at the time, was thrust into the spotlight after she was brought to social services May 5 by Sherry A. Loudermilk. She said she agreed to keep the girl one night after Persons, who was considering renting a unit in her building, told her that he and the girl were living in an abandoned warehouse.

Persons was arrested on the drug charges two days later.

Social services workers held a news conference May 17 asking for help identifying the girl who they said had been abandoned by her father. Akasha tearfully pleaded for her “mommy” at the conference, and television networks showed her face several times a day – identifying her as Courtney from Brooklyn, N.Y., when, in fact, she is from Brooklyn, Baltimore.

Baltimore social services officials said the department gave out incorrect information about Akasha based on what the girl had told them.

Persons was not released from jail until May 20 and, according to his lawyer, was not able to contact Loudermilk before the news conference was nationally televised.

Each parent is seeking sole custody. Harper alleges that Persons abducted Akasha from her, while Persons alleges that Harper had abandoned the child.

Source: The Baltimore Sun Article, June 12th, 2004 (published)