A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by a man acquitted of a 2021 Cambridge murder, ruling that Dorchester County prosecutors accused of withholding evidence are shielded by prosecutorial immunity, according to federal court documents.
U.S. District Judge Brendan A. Hurson granted the motion to dismiss Tuesday, closing the civil case Key'Marion Ennals filed against the State of Maryland and three prosecutors: Dorchester County State's Attorney Amanda Leonard, deputy Philip Donoho and assistant Ella Disharoon.
Ennals, 16 at the time, was charged in the November 2021 shooting death of Ja'len Woolford after Deaveon Johnson, another suspect, implicated him during a police interview in exchange for a plea deal.
Johnson ultimately pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison, suspending all but 25 years. Ennals was found not guilty in 2024 of murder and related charges.
Ennals was held without bond for 631 days. During that time, according to court filings, his sister died and a judge denied his request to attend her funeral.
Ahead of Ennals' scheduled trial in 2023, his attorneys accused Dorchester County prosecutors of withholding an interview with a witness who told investigators he didn't believe Ennals was involved because Johnson had been "bragging about the shooting."
Prosecutors did not turn over that interview until 11 days before trial, even though Leonard had known about it for more than seven months, Ennals' attorneys claimed.
A Dorchester County judge subsequently removed Leonard, Disharoon and the State's Attorney's Office from prosecuting the case, and a special prosecutor from Prince George's County was appointed.
That special prosecutor later learned that Disharoon had exchanged undisclosed text messages with the trial judge about the case, the federal lawsuit claimed.
Ennals and his attorneys initially filed the lawsuit for wrongful prosecution in Dorchester County Circuit Court last December, also alleging negligence and gross negligence, and negligent training and supervision. The lawsuit was moved to federal court in January.
In his ruling, Hurson found the conduct underlying Ennals' claims, the withholding of the witness interview and Disharoon's contact with the judge all occurred after Ennals had already been arrested and charged, placing it within prosecutors' "advocative" role in preparing for trial.
Hurson wrote that while "genuinely wronged" defendants can be left without a remedy against prosecutors who act maliciously, courts have consistently found protecting prosecutorial independence from the threat of personal liability outweighs that harm.
An appeal of Tuesday's dismissal is likely imminent. On Thursday, Ennals and his attorneys filed a notice of appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
The State of Maryland was also named in Ennals' lawsuit.
Because the prosecutors were found immune, Hurson ruled the state could not be held liable either under the Maryland Tort Claims Act.
Ennals had asked the court to send the immunity question to the Maryland Supreme Court, arguing there was "a good faith basis for a change in the law." Hurson declined, writing that the doctrine is well-settled and it was not the district court's role to revisit it.
The dismissal closes the federal case. Hurson did not rule on a separate argument by the defendants that they were also immune from suit under state tort claims law, saying it was unnecessary given his ruling on prosecutorial immunity.