Jessamy and Bernstein respond to controversial ad

Baltimore City State's Attorney Patricia Jessamy and her opponent Gregg Bernstein held another debate in Canton Tuesday night.

One subject that came up was a new advertisement from the Bernstein campaign -- which references one of the worst crimes in Baltimore City's history – the murders of Angela and Carnell Dawson and their five children, in East Baltimore back in 2002.

Angela Dawson had a reputation for reporting drug dealing and other crimes in her neighborhood to police.

In the ad you hear from DiTanya Madden, who used to be the witness protection coordinator in the state's attorney's office. She says the Dawsons died because the state's attorney's office mismanaged the program.

The format for the debate in Canton called for the people who attended to submit questions. One of them was directed to Gregg Bernstein, specifically about that ad.

He responded that DiTanya Madden came to him when she found out he was running for office. Bernstein hopes the ad shows that Jessamy, hasn't done enough to protect witnesses in criminal cases.

‘What she (Madden) said then at the time and what she said now was at no time did anyone ever contact her to tell her that the Dawson family was potentially in danger and may have needed some assistance. And it was for that reason I thought it was important for people to hear from Ms. Madden. Not from me, but from Ms. Madden,’ he said.

Berntein said as state's attorney he would do more to protect witnesses in criminal cases, including moving them out of Baltimore City when necessary.

He said federal grant money could be used -- but he hasn't been specific about just how that might be implemented.

Patricia Jessamy was not asked about the political ad referencing the Dawson family during the debate. ABC-2 News asked her about it moments after the debate ended.

‘Again my opponent is exploiting a horrible tragedy and misrepresenting the facts. That's all I have to say. It's documented,’ she said.

The debate in Canton was the first time in the campaign that we heard the name Zach Sowers, when audience member submitted a question about his case.

Sowers was severely beaten while walking home from a bar near Canton back in 2007. He later died.

Jessamy responded that the lead suspect in that case took a plea and got 40 years in prison.

Bernstein criticized the state's attorney's spokeswoman for comments she made during the lead-up to the case.