Trial Date Set For Defendant in 2021 Orleans Street Homicide

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A trial date was set on Sept. 8 for a man charged with first-degree murder before Baltimore Circuit Court Judge Melissa M. Phinn.

Defense attorney James Sweeting III told Judge Phinn that he had made a counteroffer to the prosecution before seeing their offer to defendant James Darryl Smith.

According to CBS Baltimore, Smith was transferred back to Baltimore after being arrested in Atlanta in February and charged with first-degree murder, firearm use in a felony violent crime, having a handgun on his person, and possessing a firearm as a minor in connection with the death of 32-year-old Dwayne Edmonds.

On June 21, 2021, Edmonds was found shot multiple times at a store on Orleans Street. Detectives identified Smith as a suspect and obtained a warrant for his arrest.

The prosecution presented a plea of life, suspending all but 50 years for first-degree murder and a concurrent sentence of five years for using a firearm in a felony violent crime.

The defense countered with a proposal of 40 years, suspending all but 20 years for a lesser included sentence of second-degree murder.

Smith declined the pleas and decided to proceed with a jury trial.

Judge Phinn scheduled Smith’s trial to start on Feb. 1, 2023. The trial is expected to last five days.

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