Judge Allows Prosecution to Use Medical Examiner’s Testimony from Previous Trial in Homicide Defendant’s Retrial

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A Baltimore City prosecutor argued to use a medical examiner’s previous testimony for the retrial of homicide defendant Jason Alcindor on April 5 after a judge recently denied the assistant state’s attorney’s request to have the witness testify remotely earlier this year.

Alcindor’s counsel, Matthew Connell, and the prosecution appeared before Circuit Court Judge Jeannie Hong, the latter of whom filed a motion to admit prior sworn testimony from a medical examiner for the defendant’s retrial. Although the medical examiner previously testified remotely in 2018, Judge Charles Peters denied the prosecution’s request on Jan. 30 for the witness to do so in the retrial.

On Wednesday, the prosecutor told Judge Hong that he is filing the motion because the medical examiner is unable to testify in person.

The judge ruled in favor of the prosecution later that afternoon. The defendant is next scheduled to appear in court on May 30.

Alcindor, 38, was initially found guilty in 2018 for the murder of 44-year-old Timothy Campbell on June 5, 2017, at a gas station on the 2700 block of Washington Boulevard. Campbell was allegedly involved in a romantic relationship with the defendant’s ex-girlfriend, the Baltimore Sun reported.

His conviction for charges of first and second-degree murder and manslaughter was later appealed in 2020 after the Court of Special Appeals of Maryland ruled in Alcindor’s favor regarding issues with the court’s jury instructions during his initial trial.