Judge Rejects Prosecutor’s Request for Trial Postponement in W. Belvedere Avenue Non-Fatal Case

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On May 22, a defense attorney rejected a trial postponement in the case of a 36-year-old defendant charged with murder in 2022.

Natalie Finegar, who represents the defendant Carlton Toulson, stated she was ready to start trial that day and rejected a postponement from the assistant state’s attorney before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Melissa Phinn.

The assistant’s state’s attorney explained she was unprepared because she was specially set to appear in front of Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge John A. Howard on May 23 for trial.

In addition, Toulson rejected a plea deal on Friday to serve 50 years, suspending all but 30 years with five years of probation for attempted first-degree murder and a concurrent sentence of five years without the possibility of parole before illegally possessing a regulated firearm. The defendant would have also been required to register as a gun offender.

Judge Phinn also rejected the postponement and scheduled the defendant’s trial to begin that day before Judge Howard.

As stated on the Maryland Judiciary website, Toulson is charged with attempted first-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assaul, firearm possession with a felony conviction, illegal possession of a regulated firearm, illegal possession of ammo, firearm use in a felony violent crime, having a handgun on his person, discharge of firearms, all which occurred on Sep. 15, 2022.

According to court documents, on Sep. 15, 2022, around 8:20 p.m., members of Northwest District patrol were dispatched for a 911 call to the block of 3200 W. Belvedere Avenue, for the report of a shooting. Upon their arrival, they located numerous nine-millimeter shell casings scattered throughout the intersection of W. Belvedere Avenue and Park Heights Avenue.

Northwest District patrol officers with the Baltimore Police Department (BPD) were also notified of a walk-in shooting victim at a nearby hospital. The victim sustained a single gunshot wound to his right torso area, but was expected to make full recovery. Investigators were able to use recovered CCTV footage that captured the shooting and confirmed photo arrays with witnesses to successfully identify Toulson as the suspected shooter.