Retaking the bench after court employees used disinfectant wipes to clean up remnants of pepper spray, Baltimore Circuit Judge Lynn Stewart Mays asked Joseph Walker how he was feeling.

Walker reported that he was doing all right. Then he apologized.

“There’s no reason for you to apologize,” Mays said. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Less than 24 hours earlier, three men attacked Walker inside the courtroom in the Elijah E. Cummings Courthouse as he was standing trial on charges including first-degree murder, armed robbery and use of a handgun during the commission of a crime of violence.

Mays individually questioned each member of the jury at the bench on Wednesday while white noise washed over the courtroom. Following a short break, she replaced the foreperson with an alternate juror. And then the trial resumed.

Walker, 50, of Charles North, is one of two men charged in the deadly shooting of Marvin Jackson, which happened on Aiken Street between Eareckson Place and East Lafayette Avenue in Oliver on Dec. 15, 2023. Jackson was 26.

The Baltimore City Sheriff’s Office reported that a deputy sheriff and correctional officer used pepper spray to restore order.

Three men — Marvin Jackson, 47, Marquis Jackson, 26, and Marlin Jackson, 23 — were charged with second-degree assault and related offenses.

“While we understand the pain of losing a loved one to violence, the actions of these family members were unacceptable,” Baltimore City Sheriff Sam Cogen said in a statement. “Not only did their outburst have the potential to cause a mistrial in a case intended to deliver justice, but they now face serious charges that could result in significant jail time. No one wins in this situation, because there is a delay in justice.”

The Baltimore Banner reviewed video from the courtroom, which showed parts of the melee.

“Jurors! Jurors!” Mays shouted. “Get out!”

One man jumped the railing, knocked over a correctional officer who was sitting in a chair and pulled Walker’s blue button-down dress shirt off. Two other men followed.

By the time the trial resumed, though, the atmosphere was subdued.

At about 10 a.m., Assistant State’s Attorney Amy Brown recalled Baltimore Police Homicide Detective Carlos Rivera and resumed presenting her case.

Brown asked Rivera to pick up where he left off.