2 Pre-Trial Motions Denied in 3-Year-Old Homicide Case

By Andrew Michaels - September 22, 2021
Attempted Murder | Court | Daily Stories | Non-Fatal Shooting | Shooting |

Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Robert K. Taylor denied two motions from the defense on Sept. 21 on behalf of three co-defendants charged in an attempted murder over three years ago.

Daoin Finch and Antwain Partlow, both 22, and Matthew Talley, 29, face a series of charges, including attempted first-degree murder, first and second-degree assault, reckless endangerment, having a handgun in a vehicle, firearm use in a violent crime, conspiracy to use a firearm in a violent crime, having a handgun on their person, conspiracy to having a handgun on their person, and discharging firearms.

Talley and Partlow also face second-degree murder charges, and Finch and Partlow are charged with possession of a firearm as a minor. Finch is additionally charged with attempted second-degree murder.

Defense attorneys Robert Durkin Jr., Tyler Mann, and Natalie McKeown Finegar represented Finch, Talley, and Partlow, respectively, during Tuesday’s hearing.

All are charged in an incident on March 29, 2018, that occurred both in Baltimore City and Baltimore County. According to Durkin, the three co-defendants were driving in Baltimore County—two in one car and one in a separate car. The shooting occurred as the co-defendants were driving into Baltimore City.

The details of the case tried in Baltimore County were not discussed.

The first motion from the three defense attorneys was a violation of due process rights, specifically a pre-indictment delay. 

The three attorneys alleged that the prosecution deliberately delayed indicting the defendants in Baltimore City “to make their case worse.”

Durkin said the case was delayed to benefit the prosecution’s case, which Judge Taylor said is legally allowed.

The prosecutor said the case as it pertains to Baltimore City is different from that in Baltimore County, and there was no intent from the prosecution to delay pre-indictment.

Judge Taylor denied defense counsels’ motion and proceeded to their next motion of pre-trial delay.

Finegar noted that there was constant stress and embarrassment due to the lengthy case, while Mann said the delay was because “the state couldn’t get their act together” and “wanted to have their cake and eat it too.”

The prosecutor countered that the case has been significantly delayed because of counsels’ busy schedules in 2019 followed by the pandemic shutdown the following year.

“The biggest part of the delay is COVID,” said Judge Taylor, who then denied the defense counsels’ second motion that the prosecution was intentionally delaying trial.

Two additional motions were rescheduled for another hearing, including a motion to suppress identification in a photo array and conflicts with the jurisdiction of the judge who signed a warrant in the case. A date was not set.

The co-defendants are scheduled for trial on Feb. 8, 2022.

Finch and Talley were previously offered pleas in June but rejected the offers. Finch was offered a deal of life, suspending all but 20 years, while Talley was offered a plea of life, suspending all but 29 years, and five years supervised probation.