Prosecution and defense attorneys wrangled in Howard County Circuit Court this week over the admissibility of evidence in the upcoming homicide trial of a Columbia man charged with fatally shooting a man outside the Wilde Lake Village Center in April.

Antajuan Lawntee Wilson, 19, of the 10800 block of Green Mountain Circle in Columbia, is charged with first-degree murder in the April 9 shooting death of 20-year-old Bryan Antoine Adams Jr.

The shooting -- Howard's first homicide of 2008 -- occurred along the sidewalk adjacent to the Wilde Lake Village Center on Twin Rivers Road just before 11:30 a.m. on April 9.

On Sept. 22, Deputy Howard County State's Attorney Mary Murphy told Judge Richard Bernhardt that both sides were to present cases relating to whether or not police had probable cause to arrest Wilson, whether statements made prior to his arrest to police were admissible, and whether calls intercepted at the Howard County Detention Center by authorities should be admitted in court.

On Sept. 22, Bernhardt struck down a motion by Mary Pizzo, Wilson's attorney, in which Pizzo tried to have thrown out the identification of the shooter made by one of Adams' friends, arguing the photograph array used by police was suggestive.

New details in the case also emerged. On Sept. 22, Detective Clay Davis of the Howard County Police Department said the shooting took place following an argument between Adams and a male outside the Wilde Lake Village Center on April 9. The male argued with Adams and his friends before leaving the area and returning with a gun and shooting Adams, Davis said. The male then fled in the direction of the townhouses across the street from the Wilde Lake Village Center where Wilson, who was living with his grandmother, was later arrested, according to Davis.

Additionally, a recording was played in court in which Wilson, following his arrest, denied shooting Adams to the police. Instead, he said he ran home after arguing with Adams and his friends. On his way, he said, he saw another man pass him, and shortly afterwards he heard shots.

"I'm sorry about that dude losing his life and everything, but I didn't do it," Wilson said in the recording.

Wilson's trial is scheduled to begin Dec. 8, 2008.

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