An Anne Arundel County Circuit Court Judge ordered Monday that a Pasadena man charged with second-degree murder be released on house arrest, overruling the previous mandate of a District Court judge.

Judge Mark Crooks presided over a hearing where the defense attorney and prosecutor at times veered away from the determinants of bail — whether the defendant is a flight risk or threat to public safety — by trading barbs about whether Jeffrey Dickinson’s killer was justified in his use of lethal force when he in September blasted a shotgun into the 44-year-old’s chest.

In addition to one count of murder, Gregory Korwek, 40, of Orr Court in Pasadena, faces charges of manslaughter, using a firearm in the commission of a violent felony, drug possession and possessing a shotgun despite being convicted of a disqualifying offense.

Korwek appeared in court beside his attorney, wearing green scrubs from the Anne Arundel County Detention Center.

The latest charges come after a months-long investigation into the relationship of Dickinson and Korwek, during which authorities worked to determine exactly what lead up to the fatal shooting in Korwek’s driveway Sept. 18. At first, police charged Korwek with a variety of felony weapons-related offenses after confiscating more than a dozen guns, which he was legally prohibited from having, from his home that day.

Korwek remained behind bars for a month until prosecutors dropped the felony counts, at which point his attorney Peter O’Neill successfully argued before Crooks for his release on house arrest. And again weeks later to give his client a little more freedom while he awaited a trial for only misdemeanors.

Police have since said they found cocaine, morphine, Suboxone and marijuana in Korwek’s house.

Acknowledging the more serious offenses faced by his client, O’Neill again advocated for Korwek’s release Monday. He reiterated how Korwek complied with all of Crooks’ mandates the first time he was released and how the judge needn’t look further than the gallery in the courtroom — Korwek’s family and friends packed two rows — to see that he was not a flight risk.

When police and prosecutors were ready to charge him a second time, Korwek turned himself in, O’Neill said.

Assistant State’s Attorney Jason Steinhardt argued Korwek is a threat to public safety.

Police said Dickinson drove to Korwek’s home on an electric scooter and allegedly threatened to burn his house down, a claim detectives now claim is not supported by the pair’s text messages. Korwek called 911 and told them Dickinson had threatened him and was en route to his house. Korwek told the operator he was armed with a shotgun and the emergency employee encouraged him to use it to protect himself if need be, according to court records.

Officers were on the way to Korwek’s house — O’Neill has argued they took too long — when Dickinson got there. Korwek’s friend Justin Fiorenza was on the phone with Korwek as the altercation played out, court records show. He told police Korwek ordered Dickinson to leave, but Dickinson’s voice got closer and louder until… BANG, according to the court records.

Police say Dickinson was unarmed and had no means with which to set Korwek’s house ablaze, court documents show.

Paramedics pronounced Dickinson dead at the scene and pathologists with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled his death was a homicide caused by a gunshot wound to the upper torso.

First, he had weapons that he wasn’t supposed to have, Steinhardt said. “Then, he used those weapons to shoot an unarmed man.”

Steinhardt recited some of the texts Dickinson sent Korwek, highlighting the words “unarmed” and “no threats of violence,” which do not justify firing the fatal shot, he said. “Use of deadly force is supposed to be a last resort, not a first impulse.”

O’Neill countered that Korwek had no way of knowing whether Dickinson was armed or not.

He explained the dispute that brought the two together was related to Dickinson’s soon-to-be firing from a contracting job with Fiorenza. O’Neill explained that he interviewed Fiorenza, who said he caught Dickinson drinking on the job over and over until enough was enough. But Dickinson thought Fiorenza owed him money and Fiorenza, fearful of a man O’Neill described as out of control, told him to get it from Korwek.

A reasonable person has a right to protect themselves and their property, he said. “If you cannot use deadly force with this set of facts, then there is no ability for anyone to.”

Crooks refocused the attorneys. It was bail he was ruling on, after all, Crooks said, and he’d heard enough.

He said he agreed with O’Neill that Korwek had followed his house arrest orders before and that he posed no flight risk. As for public safety, Crooks said he did not take the prosecutor’s concerns lightly. But, he said, police had confiscated all the guns.

Crooks ordered Korwek remanded to no-bond house arrest, allowing the defendant to attend religious services, medical appointments for his two children and meetings with his lawyers. But he stopped short of allowing Korwek to work, a privilege he’d allowed with the lesser charges.

“Not right now,” Crooks said.