Charles Village Court Watch

Derrick Brown, Antwan Mosley and Danyae Robinson are charged with the May 24, 2011 murder of Sean Johnson, age 12, and with the attempted murder of three others.  Sean Johnson and his friends were watching a basketball game on television while seated on his front porch in Darley Park when they were attacked by people using guns.  Those using the guns allegedly were the defendants.  Here is a link to an article in the Sun:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/blog/bs-md-ci-sean-johnson-arrests-20120417,0,3067490.story

This morning, the three defendants were scheduled for part 46 reception court at 11.  Two courtrooms alternately appeared in the online case files for the defendants.  When I got to the courthouse and inquired, I learned that in fact part 46 would be in neither of those courtrooms but would instead be in room 430 Courthouse East, the courtroom of Judge Lynn Stewart.  Moreover, I learned that attorneys had been notified that court there would begin at 9 instead of the usual 9:30.  Fortunately, I have learned that cases often are called earlier than scheduled.

The case was first called at 9:17 without the presence of the defendants, and there was a bench conference.  Assistant State's Attorney Patricia McLane (who is the president of the Charles Village Civic Association) was filling in for Assistant State's Attorney Kelly Madigan, and one of the defense attorneys represented all three defendants.  At 9:50, shortly after the arrival of the defendants from the lockup, the attorneys stated that they were seeking a postponement.  The reason given by the state was that discovery was necessary since there is a protective order and since it will therefore be necessary to have a specially scheduled trial (I will explain this below).  Judge Stewart announced that trial was postponed to Tuesday, September 3 at 11 in part 46.

A protective order is an order that the defense not be given the names of one or more witnesses until 45 days before trial in order to prevent intimidation of those witnesses.  But disclosure to the defense of information on those witnesses is a necessary part of discovery i.e. of the state's apprising the defense of any information that it has that may help the defense.  Discovery is a crucial part of the criminal justice process because the defense should have any information that the state has that might possibly be exculpatory and because the defense needs to be able to prepare for cross examination of any prosecution witness.

Normally, I would avoid mentioning anything about a protective order, but on an earlier occasion, I was assured that I would be revealing nothing that the defendants did not already know.

A specially scheduled trial is needed to allow the state know when to turn over to the defense the names of and information about the protected witnesses.  Note that it is possible that the actual trial will be scheduled at a different time from September 3.


David Hunter is charged with the murder of Henry Mills on June 14, 2011 in the 2400 block of Greenmount Avenue.  Hunter is allegedly a member of the Black Guerrilla Family, and he is the first person charged in Baltimore City under a recent state law that defines an additional crime and thus allows an additional penalty when a crime stems from participation in a criminal gang.  Here is a link to the press release from the State's Attorney's Office:
http://www.stattorney.org/eastern/366-3-7-13-grand-jury-indicts-hunter-under-gang-statute-charging-him-with-avenging-fellow-gang-member-s-murder.html

Hunter was scheduled yesterday to appear in reception court.  I was not able to attend, but according to the online case files, his trial was postponed to Wednesday, September 4 at 2 in room 420 Courthouse West.