22-Year-Old Homicide Defendant Believes He Could Represent Himself in Trial

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Homicide defendant Stephawn Tate appeared in reception court before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Melissa M. Phinn on Sept. 12 for the purpose of scheduling his trial. The hearing was initially set to be heard by Judge Melissa K. Copeland.

Tate was charged with first-degree murder, firearm use in a felony violent crime, firearm possession with a felony conviction, the possession of a firearm as a minor and having a handgun on his person in connection to the November 2020 murder of Rodney Grinage.

Tate expressed his desire for new counsel because his current attorneys, Benjamin Charlton and Todd Oppenheim, “[didn’t] have [his] best interest in heart.”

When asked if he would be willing to represent himself, he said, “I believe so.”

His defense team noted he had in fact been in touch with another attorney, not associated with the Baltimore City Office of Public Defender, as is his current counsel and that he had set aside money for a private defense attorney.

Judge Phinn warned Tate about the amount of time he could be facing in prison and expressed confidence in Charlton and Oppenheim. After consideration, Tate decided to stay with his current counsel.

Judge Phinn scheduled Tate’s next hearing on Oct. 6 for the purpose of scheduling his trial.

According to documents from the District Court of Maryland, on Nov. 13, 2020, Baltimore Police Department officers responded to the 1600 block of W. North Avenue after hearing gunfire. When they arrived, they noticed a victim, soon to be identified as 27-year-old Grinage, lying face down with a gunshot wound to the head. He was shortly pronounced dead.

During the course of the investigation and with the help of surveillance footage, an officer was able to immediately identify the perpetrator as Tate. She stated that she had seen him wearing the same clothing just a few hours after the incident.

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