Baltimore Man Found Not Guilty in Attempted Murder Trial

Baltimore Courthouse

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A jury returned a verdict of not guilty on all charges in the attempted murder trial of 20-year-old Darius Partlow before Balitmore City Cricut Court Judge Jeffery Geller on June 24. 

Partlow was charged with the shooting a man on July 4, 2021, in an attempted carjacking near the 3800 block of West Belvedere.  

Partlow was identified by the victim in a photo array after going through the lineup twice. The victim testified that he was “100 percent” certain that Partlow was the man who had shot him while he was trying to buy drugs to celebrate the holiday. 

However, defense attorney Benjamin Charlton pushed back on the veracity of the identification due to the victim’s cocaine usage on the day of the incident.

Charlton argued that the victim’s identification of the shooter as a 5’ 6” light skinned black male was wrong seeing as the defendant is much taller than 5’ 6”, which was proven when Partlow stood up in front of the jurors. 

Charlton also pointed out that another witness identified the shooter as “KB” , a person who was 5’ 6” tall. 

During the prosecutor’s rebuttal, he argued the seriousness of the crime with a bullet piercing the back of the victim’s neck as well as reminding the jury of the victim’s consistent testimony and identification of Partlow as the shooter.

“This is not a game,” the prosecution said repeatedly. 

Despite the prosecution’s best arguments, the jury returned a not guilty verdict shortly after closing arguments.  

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