Charles Village Court Watch

Markell Shelton Jones is charged with the attempted armed robbery and first degree murder of Freddie Jones Jr. (no relation) on October 31, 2011 at Yau Brothers carryout at 2901 Greenmount Avenue.  Preliminary motions before the trial began today before Judge M. Brooke Murdock, and they will continue tomorrow.  Because there is a judicial conference Thursday and Friday, the picking of a jury and an expected 4 day trial are scheduled to begin Monday.

Justin Fenton of the Sun attended today, and I am not going to try to redo his excellent report:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/blog/bal-defense-trying-to-overcome-taped-confession-in-fatal-baltimore-carryout-shooting-20130506,0,1841421.story

This morning, Judge Murdock granted a prosecution motion to sequester the witnesses.  What this means is that no witness will be present in the courtroom while any other witness is testifying, and witnesses are instructed not to discuss their testimony with other witnesses.  This is very common.

Defense motions are to declare the arrest unlawful, to suppress the confession (which is what most of today's testimony described by Justin Fenton dealt with), and to exclude clothing allegedly worn by the defendant (which Detective LLoyd said that the defendant had led him to).

When Detective Lloyd testified this morning, he identified a form on which the defendant had initialed each element of the Miranda warning and had signed a statement that he was waiving his right to an attorney and wished to speak to police.  The audio tape of the confession begins with the repeating of having the defendant acknowledge that he understands each element of the Miranda warning, and that he voluntarily waives his right to an attorney.  Yet the testimony by the defendant in the afternoon is that he had asked for an attorney but was told what to say when taped so that Detective Lloyd could help him to get less than a life sentence.  That is the crux of what was in dispute before Judge Murdock today.

I will note that I found the tape of the confession absolutely chilling.  At the same time, mitigation for the defendant are his age (17 at the time of the event), that his family apparently turned him in (but that may be in dispute), and the fact that he can be heard on the tape to be crying, thus perhaps showing remorse.  Obviously, Judge Murdock must decide whether the confession was voluntary, and the issues surrounding it may become issues for the jury to decide when it determines whether to believe the confession.

Tomorrow at 9:30, Dr. Michael O'Connell (I'm not sure of the spelling) is to testify.  The prosecution has moved to exclude his testimony from the trial itself.  Based on what seemed to be said in reception court last Tuesday by the defense attorney about his concern about the availability of a witness and what he expected from that witness, I can surmise that Dr. O'Connell will testify on the suggestibility of the defendant.  Other witnesses are due starting at 10.


Benny Davis is charged with the first degree murder of D'Andre Thomas last March 18 in the 2700 block of Fox Avenue in Remington.  He was arraigned this morning, and it was a straight arraignment (plead not guilty, request jury trial, waive formal reading of the charges).  Doug Armstrong attended and gave me his report, and I thank him for it.  Trial in part 46 reception court (room 556 Courthouse East) was set for Friday, July 26 at 11.

Last Thursday, I apparently goofed trying to post the following:

Robin McKoy was accused of attacking another woman with a hammer last April 3 on the 400 block of East 25th Street.  Charges were first degree assault and lesser charges.  Here is the article in North Baltimore Patch:
http://northbaltimore.patch.com/articles/harwood-woman-accused-of-hammer...
All that I know about what allegedly happened is what is in that article.

This morning [last Thursday], McKoy was scheduled for a preliminary hearing in District Court at 5800 Wabash Avenue.  At 10:44, a correction officer was asked to bring her up from the lockup.  Two minutes later, her case was called by the assistant state's attorney who then stated that the State would enter a nol pros (meaning that the charges were dropped).  A minute later, McKoy was led into the courtroom by a correction officer, and the assistant public defender told her that her case had been nol prossed.

McKoy had been held without bail, and I see now in the online case file that she has been released from commitment.

A brief reason was given by the prosecutor for the nol pros, but I could not make out what was said.  But in view of comments I have seen at the end of the article in Patch, let me say that I have no reason to believe that the decision to drop the charges was based on anything other than the evidence and the quality of the evidence in the case.

Steve