Prosecutor’s Wedding, Trial Schedule Necessitate Scheduling Murder Trial Into Summer

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On Feb. 6, Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Melissa K. Copeland agreed to schedule a 36-year-old murder defendant’s trial four months out to accommodate a prosecutor’s schedule. 

Samuel Cole, Jr., is charged with first-degree murder, firearm use in a felony violent crime, having a loaded handgun on his person and in a vehicle in connection to a Jan. 22, 2022, incident. 

The prosecutor was unable to relay a plea offer during Tuesday’s hearing because she had only recently met with the victim’s family; however, she said she would send her offer to defense attorney Jason Silverstein next week. 

As far as scheduling Cole’s trial, the prosecutor had limited availability in the coming months due to a busy trial schedule and her upcoming wedding and honeymoon. 

Judge Copeland scheduled Cole’s three-day trial to begin on June 28 before Judge Jennifer B. Schiffer