For Want of Prosecutor, Trials for Two Co-defendants Postponed

By Racquel Bazos - December 19, 2023
Uncategorized |

On Dec. 19, Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Melissa M. Phinn rescheduled the trials of two non-fatal shooting codefendants after the prosecutor was unable to come to court. 

Alex Martinez-Montoya is charged with possession of a firearm as a minor, having a loaded handgun on his person, having a handgun within 100 yards of a park, church or school and discharging a handgun in Baltimore City.

His codefendant, Jose Ferrera-Zuniga, is charged with having a handgun on his person, having a loaded handgun on his person, having a handgun within 100 yards of a public place and discharging a firearm in Baltimore. Both defendants are charged in connection to a Sept. 8 incident.

The assigned prosecutor was sick and could not try the co-defendants today. A stand-in prosecutor offered Ferrera-Zuniga, 22, a plea agreement of three years, suspending all but one year, with three years of supervised probation and gun offender registration for having a loaded handgun on his person.

The plea offer was the same for 19-year-old Martinez-Montoya, although it was not specified for which charge. Both defendants rejected the offer via their respective attorneys, Brandon Patterson and Larry Rogers. 

Due to today’s postponement, counsel could not agree on another mutual date to try Ferrera-Zuniga and Martinez-Montoya together. Judge Phinn scheduled Ferrera-Zuniga’s trial on Jan. 9, 2024, before Judge Lawrence R. Daniels. Martinez-Montoya’s trial will begin on Jan. 15, 2024, before Judge Philip S. Jackson. 

Judge Phinn warned the stand-in prosecutor that she would not grant the state another postponement in these matters.