19-Year-Old Homicide Case Goes Unheard in Baltimore City Circuit Court

By Carly Schiller [former] - July 15, 2021
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

The case of a homicide defendant scheduled for a remote collateral hearing in Baltimore City Circuit Court on July 15 was not heard. The case was scheduled for 2:30 p.m. in courtroom 540 of the Cummings Courthouse.

Baltimore resident Donte Gregg, 38, was sentenced on May 14, 2003, to life for first-degree murder. He is also serving a concurrent sentence of 20 years for one count of using a handgun while committing a crime.

Gregg, who was 19 at the time of the incident, allegedly shot Phillip Adams in the head on June 15, 2002.

According to a case report, Gregg is accused of holding a gun to Adams’ head and asking him to “give it up.” After allegedly shooting Adams, Gregg reportedly forced his way into a nearby van and held the driver at gunpoint, making him drive away.

However, Gregg claimed he drove a man named Andre Robinson to the area of the shooting and saw Robinson shoot Adams. According to Gregg, Robinson then got back into Gregg’s van, pointed the gun at him, and told him to drive. 

Despite claiming he was innocent, Gregg was found guilty by a jury on April 4, 2003. 

In September 2003, Gregg filed a petition for post-conviction relief. In the petition, he said he did not receive effective assistance from his counsel, who he said failed to act on the court’s denial of DNA testing of cells found on the murder weapon. The court ordered DNA testing to be performed in response to the petition, but the results were inconclusive. 

In November 2005, Gregg filed a motion for a new trial as well as the release of evidence for forensic testing. Once again, he argued that the cells on the weapon could have proved his innocence if they had been processed in time. The court denied the requests for a new trial and DNA testing on April 17, 2006.

According to the Daily Record, Gregg filed a second petition for post-conviction relief, claiming both his trial and appellate council had been ineffective. The petition was denied because one person cannot file multiple petitions for post-conviction relief for the same sentence.

A collateral appeal is another way of seeking post-conviction relief; however, Gregg’s case was not heard during Thursday’s proceedings.