Judge Denies Trial Postponement for Robbery, Attempted Murder Defendant

By Breanna Pompey - April 11, 2024
Attempted Murder | Court | Daily Stories | Shooting | Suspects |

On April 4, non-fatal shooting defendant Rico Blick exchanged words with Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Melissa K. Copeland about his long delayed trial.

Blick, 29, is current facing charges of with armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, first-degree assault, conspiracy to commit first-degree assault, second-degree assault, conspiracy to commit second-degree assault, theft less than $100, conspiracy to commit theft less than $100, firearm use in a felony violent crime, conspiracy to use a firearm in a felony violent crime, firearm possession with a felony conviction, illegal possession of a regulated firearm, possession of firearm in a controlled dangerous substance offense, having a handgun on his person, conspiracy to have a handgun on his person, having a handgun in a vehicle, having a handgun in a vehicle on a public road, discharging firearms, having a gun within 100 yards of the public and illegal possession of ammunition in connection to a Dec. 7, 2021, incident. 

Blick was originally scheduled to begin trial on April 4 before Judge Myshala E. Middleton.

However, the prosecution requested the trial be postponed due to “the backup to the backup” witness falling sick. Blick’s defense attorney, Jerry Rodriguez, opposed this, saying the witness was not essential to the investigation and was only there to testify to non-essential aspects of the case.

Judge Copeland stated counsel had everything they needed to move forward with this case, but the prosecution strongly disagreed stating that “the court [was] wrong about that.” 

The judge mentioned that the case was more than two years old and that the prosecution had a number of witnesses available to testify. So, Judge Copeland denied the postponement and sent the case back to Judge Middleton.

Blick expressed frustration about the uncertainty of his trial date, and his defense attorney said that he would be given more information after the hearing. Blick became more upset, and used obscene toward Judge Copeland.

The judge demanded he apologize and then dismissed him.

Judge Copeland left the new trial date to Judge Middleton.