Carroll County prosecutor drops manslaughter charge in 2011 tavern death; witness unreliable

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
May 13, 2013 - 3:11 pm EDT

WESTMINSTER, Maryland — Prosecutors are dropping manslaughter charges in the death of a man outside a Carroll County tavern.

A judge in Westminster dismissed charges Monday against 49-year-old Michael Grimes of Woodsboro after State's Attorney Jerry Barnes said the prosecution's main eyewitness wasn't credible.

Grimes and three Hagerstown men were accused of killing 26-year-old Craig Myers of Rocky Ridge during a fight at the Crossroads Inn in Keymar in August 2011.

The others were acquitted of murder charges in December after Myers' girlfriend gave testimony that differed from her statement to police.

Grimes' lawyer, Matthew Williamson, says the woman provoked the confrontation by hugging one of the other defendants in front of Myers.

Barnes says charges against Grimes will be reinstated if his office develops enough credible evidence to support them.

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