Communication Woes Force Attorneys to Find New Trial Date

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Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Melissa K. Copeland attempted to untangle how communications broke down between the attorneys trying an attempted murder case and the Criminal Assignment Office on Feb. 1.

Larry Sparrow is charged with three counts of attempted first- and second-degree murder, first-degree assault, reckless endangerment, firearm use in a felony violent crime, carrying a loaded handgun, discharging a firearm in Baltimore City, illegal possession of a regulated firearm and illegal possession of ammunition in connection to a July 10, 2023, incident.

Due to the Criminal Assignment Office not having the correct email address for the prosecutor assigned to the case, she never received emails attempting to confirm a previously suggested February trial date.

Judge Copeland said it was not the office’s job to “hunt down” counsel, but rather counsel’s responsibility to send in the proper paperwork to the Criminal Assignment Office.

A representative from the Criminal Assignment Office told the court that she had not received paperwork from the prosecutor, but the stand-in prosecutor said that her colleague had sent it in November.

“My goal here is not to blame anyone,” said Judge Copeland, but rather to understand how the procedures at work resulted in this inefficiency.

Ultimately counsel agreed on a new trial date in May. Sparrow, 28, and his attorneys, Robert Cohen and Janet Andersen, will appear for his three-day trial beginning May 13 before Judge M. Brooke Murdock.