The attorney for a Baltimore man charged with breaking into his ex-girlfriend's Columbia apartment and stabbing her boyfriend numerous times argued at the opening of his trial Aug. 19 that he acted in self-defense.

Kazeem Akinniyi, 26, of Baltimore, is charged with attempted first-degree murder, as well as attempted second-degree murder, first- and second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and burglary, according to court documents.

Akinniyi is accused of breaking into his ex-girlfriend Sharon Johnson's apartment, on Turnabout Lane in Wilde Lake, at about 4:50 a.m. on Dec. 27 and attacking Johnson's boyfriend, Jefferson Bolden, who was with her.

In Howard County Circuit Court Aug. 19, attorneys for the prosecution and the defense outlined two different scenarios in the case, the prosecution claiming that Akinniyi was the aggressor and Akinniyi's attorney arguing that his client acted in self-defense.

Assistant State's Attorney Michael Weal told jurors that Akinniyi broke into Johnson's bedroom and attacked Bolden with a 10-inch butcher knife. Bolden fled the bedroom only to find the front door to the apartment jammed and was attacked once again by Akinniyi, Weal said.

Akinniyi continued to stab Bolden until Bolden broke the blade off the knife Akinniyi was wielding, Weal told jurors.

Johnson, meanwhile, had seen Bolden bleeding in the bedroom and had rushed out of the bedroom to call the police, Weal said. "The first thing she saw was a cut on Bolden's eye," Weal said.

After Bolden broke the blade, Akinniyi fled to the ledge of a window in the third-floor apartment and either jumped or fell to the ground, breaking both his legs, according to Weal.

When police arrived, they found Akinniyi about 200 feet from the apartment dragging himself away, Weal said.

Both Akinniyi and Bolden were transported to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where they were treated and released, said Wayne Kirwan, a spokesman for Howard County State's Attorney Dario Broccolino.

In her opening argument Akinniyi's attorney, Janette DeBoissiere, portrayed a different scenario, saying Johnson had set up the confrontation between the two men by calling Akinniyi earlier in the evening and inviting him over.

"Sharon Johnson could not decide between the two men in her life," DeBoissiere said.

Two knives were found at the scene of the crime, DeBoissiere said. She claimed that Akinniyi stabbed Bolden in self-defense.

"It seems like a very easy case for you, but things are not always what they seem," she told the courtroom.

Taking the stand on Aug. 20, Johnson testified that she did not see who stabbed Bolden but only heard a "tussle" going on in the bedroom. She repeatedly testified under examination by Weal that she did not know who stabbed Bolden.

Weal, however, asked her to read aloud a statement she gave to police on the night of the stabbing, in which she identified Akinniyi as the man who stabbed Bolden and claimed that Akinniyi had said to her, "If I can't have you, no one can have you."

The trial is expected to last three days, attorneys for both sides said.

Akinniyi also was scheduled to go on trial Aug. 19 for assault and burglary charges related to an attack on Johnson in September 2007. That case was postponed to an undetermined date.

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