Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge DiPietro Michael Anthony oversaw a sentence modification hearing for murder convict Julius Collins , 52, on Oct. 8.
Collins was convicted of second-degree murder and two handgun charges in connection to an April 13, 2000 incident that left Dion Gibson dead with a gunshot wound to his head. Gibson was allegedly selling cassette tapes on the 2900 block of Garrison Boulevard in Northwest Baltimore when he was shot following a dispute.
Gibson was pronounced dead at the scene. Three days later, witnesses identified Collins as the shooter via photographic arrays.
During the hearing, Judge Dipietro informed the court that logistical issues with the court’s electronic filing system led to complications notifying the case’s prosecuting attorney about the hearing.
Though defense attorney Michelle M. Martz filed a notice of modification through the court’s filing system on Aug 15, Collins’ case had no active prosecuting attorney based on the age of the case.
Judge DiPietro decided to continue the hearing to give the stand-in prosecuting attorney enough time to read over the previous trial transcripts and contact Gibson’s next-of-kin.
Collins’ post-conviction hearing was reset to Nov. 10 pending assignment of a new prosecuting attorney.
