Attempted Murder Case Still Waits on Autopsy Report

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An attempted murder defendant’s case was postponed again Oct. 16 after the prosecution said an autopsy for the victim won’t be completed until early December.

Kimani Johnson is charged with felony first and second-degree attempted murder, first degree assault, armed robbery and attempted armed robbery, conspiracy to use a firearm in a felony crime, and the use of a firearm in a felony crime. Along with charges of possessing a gun on his person, discharge of an armed weapon, and having an armed weapon while being a convicted felon.

For his Oct. 16 trial, the trial was postponed for a fourth time because of the autopsy report. Roland Harris, Johnson’s defense attorney, objected to the postponement. He said the defense was ready and the autopsy was the same reason for the third postponement in August.

The autopsy that was submitted to the court for the August trial, according to the prosecution, was never completed. The medical examiner had been waiting for lab results.

The case was moved from Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Kendra Y. Ausby to Judge Melissa M. Phinn who rejected Harris’s objection.

The timeline given was for the new autopsy report to be completed at the latest in early December. “Since the prosecution can’t control the medical examiner’s office, there is nothing to be done,” Judge Phinn said.

Baltimore Witness reported that Johnson was supposed to have his first trial set back in March for shooting a man on June 16, 2023, after officers responded to a call on the 100 block of North Mount Street. The 38-year-old victim, who was alive at the time, told officers that the initial incident happened on the unit block of North Fulton Avenue.

However, Harris was on paternity leave in March. Another postponement happened in May because the victim was recovering from surgery.

The trial was rescheduled to start on Jan. 21, 2025, with seven to eight witnesses. It is expected to last five days.