Man Pleads Guilty to Armed Robbery After Unsuccessfully Claiming Ineffective Counsel

Thank you for reading Baltimore Witness.
Consider making a donation to help us continue our mission.

After a back-and-forth with the court, Dewan Houshins, 26, pleaded guilty to armed robbery and felony firearm use, receiving a combined sentence of 15 years plus five years supervised probation from Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Kimberly C. McBride on July 1.

Houshins initially wanted to dismiss his attorney, public defender Matthew Connell, alleging that Connell had not represented him properly. The defendant said he wished to hire a private attorney, for which he would need a postponement of his case.

When speaking to Judge McBride, Houshins alleged that Connell had told him that he had no defense. The defendant said his defense attorney neither came to see him in prison nor shared with him the evidence in the case.

Connell strongly denied these claims, telling Judge McBridge that he had visited Houshins numerous times and that Houshins even had his private phone number. Connell submitted multiple plea deals to the prosecution on his client’s behalf, which were rejected by the prosecution. He also said that he had presented the full discovery of evidence.

Furthermore, Connell stated that he had never told Houshins he had no defense. Instead, he claimed he cautioned Houshins against denying all charges outright due to the “overwhelming evidence” against him. He said he urged Houshins to focus on getting the more severe charges like attempted murder dropped, while accepting the lighter charges for which there was strong evidence to convict.

Connell stated he had heard nothing of Houshins being dissatisfied with his representation until the day before. He claimed that Houshins “didn’t want to go to trial and didn’t want to plead guilty.” The attorney noted his client wanted a third option of throwing him under the bus to potentially get a lighter plea deal with a different attorney, despite the prosecution stating this was their final offer.

After deliberation, Judge McBride ruled that Houshins had no good cause to dismiss Connell as the latter had fulfilled all of his responsibilities as an attorney and difference in opinions on how to proceed did not constitute good cause. Judge McBride advised that Houshins still had the right to dismiss Connell, but that his postponement request would most likely not be approved without good cause. Consequently, due to lack of sufficient time to procure a different attorney, Houshins might have to represent himself.

Houshins then moved to Judge Melissa K. Copeland’s courtroom, where he, once again, requested a postponement to hire a private attorney. Finding no good cause for dismissal, Judge Copeland denied his request.

Houshins then moved back to Judge McBride’s courtroom, where he eventually decided to accept the prosecution’s plea offer of a combined 15 years in prison for robbery and firearm use in exchange for dropping the more severe charges of conspiracy and attempted murder.

Houshins faced these charges for an incident that occurred on the 500 block of N. Curley Street. Two individuals—later identified as Houshins and his 26-year-old co-defendant, Christopher Boykin—were spotted entering a home where gunshots were fired. The victim later checked himself into the hospital.

Boykin’s jury trial wrapped up last week, where he was found not guilty of major attempted murder charges, but guilty of an armed robbery charge.