Judge Postpones Hearing for Medford Road Non-Fatal Shooting Defendant

Thank you for reading Baltimore Witness. Help us continue our mission into 2024.

On June 29, a Baltimore City defendant charged with attempted murder rejected a plea offer in light of new video evidence and witnesses to support his alibi.

Derrien Gamble and defense attorney James Sweeting III rejected the plea offer of a 35-year aggregate sentence before Baltimore City Circuit Judge Melissa K. Copeland.

The case was set to go to trial on June 29, but a joint motion for postponement moved the trial to Oct. 4 in front of Judge Yolanda A. Tanner. Gamble, 20, waived his Hick’s right, which is a defendant’s right to be tried within 180 days of his or his attorney’s first court appearance.

Sweeting said the defense had new witnesses and video evidence to support Gamble’s alibi.

The rejected plea offered life, suspending all but 35 years, with five years of supervised probation for two counts of first-degree murder. That sentence would have been served concurrent to three consecutive 11-year sentences for firearm possession with a felony conviction and two counts of firearm use in a felony violent crime, each without the possibility of parole for the first five years. He would also have had to serve three years concurrent to all other sentences for having a loaded handgun on his person.

The defendant would have had to also comply with the victim’s no-contact order.

Gamble is charged in connection to the Feb. 4 shooting of an 80-year-old woman and a 17-year-old male resulting in non-fatal injuries on the 1500 block of Medford Road. The Capital Area Regional Task Force arrested Gamble on Feb. 14 without incident.

As stated on the Maryland Judiciary website, Gamble is charged with two counts each of first-degree attempted murder, firearm use in a violent crime, attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault, second-degree assault, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, conspiracy to use a firearm in a felony violent crime, conspiracy to commit assault, conspiracy to commit second-degree assault, having a handgun in his vehicle, having a handgun on his person, having a loaded handgun on his person, having a loaded handgun in his vehicle, illegal possession of ammunition, illegally possessing a regulated firearm, firearm possession with a felony conviction and firing a gun in Baltimore City. He is also charged with destruction of property worth over $1,000, destruction of property worth under $1,000 and three counts of reckless endangerment.