Defense Counsel of Saratoga Street Homicide Case Stands in Confusion Amid Attorney Mix-Up

By Amna Syed [former] - March 7, 2023
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

On March 6, Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Melissa M. Phinn continued a hearing for a 34-year-old defendant involved in a homicide. 

Stand-in defense attorney Hunter Pruette stood confused as defendant Sean Braxton-Carter stated that both Pruette and defense attorney Natalie Finegar are to represent him in his retrial. 

During this hearing, the assistant state’s attorney offered Braxton-Carter a plea of life in prison, suspending all but 60 years, with five years of supervised probation for the count of first degree murder and also 20 years with the first five years without parole for the count of the use of a firearm in a felony violent crime. The defendant did not accept or reject this plea. 

Judge Phinn continued the hearing to April 12. The first reason for this continuation was because the defendant may not have a defense counsel, and the second reason was to set a new trial date. 

Documents from the District Court of Maryland for Baltimore City state that a police officer responded to a ShotSpotter alert plus a call for discharging on February 2, 2020, on the block of 2200 W. Saratoga Street. On arrival, the officer found the victim, Marvin Kosh, in a maroon 2019 Kia Optima with multiple gunshot wounds on the torso. The victim was transported to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where he was pronounced deceased despite all medical efforts. 

Upon investigation, court documents revealed that the victim and the defendant were involved in an ongoing dispute. Braxton-Carter followed Kosh to the scene of the crime, which then led to the incident. A witness who was present during the act was able to identify Braxton-Carter as as a suspected shooter. 

According to the Maryland Judiciary website, Braxton-Carter is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, use of a firearm in a felony violent crime, having a handgun on his person, having a handgun in a vehicle on a public road, and possessing a firearm with a felony conviction.