[Baltimore Sun] Judge denies David Linthicum request to postpone case: “The community deserves a trial”
A Baltimore County judge on Monday denied a request from attorneys for the Cockeysville man accused of shooting two police officers last year to postpone his trial, which is slated to begin next week.
Attorneys for David Linthicum, 25, asked for the delay so that the court could consider their renewed push to have his case dismissed. In a motion filed Saturday, the defense accused Baltimore County officials of conspiring to prevent him from receiving a fair trial.
Circuit Judge Robert Edward Cahill Jr. said the defense’s argument did not amount to a reasonable legal justification to postpone the case, which is scheduled to begin with jury selection Sept. 16.
“The outcome of this case will get significant community attention. … And the community deserves a trial,” Cahill said.
Authorities say Linthicum shot Baltimore County Police Officer Barry Jordan during a police response to his house Feb. 8, 2023, following a call from Linthicum’s father that his son was suicidal and armed. Linthicum escaped into the woods, triggering a multi-agency search that spanned two days.
Detective Jonathan Chih, also of the Baltimore County Police Department, eventually came across Linthicum on Warren Road. In their latest court filing, defense attorneys wrote that Chih mistook Linthicum for a hitchhiker before Linthicum asked him: “Are you here to kill me?”
Authorities said Chih and Linthicum then opened fire on each other, with the detective being struck and critically wounded.
Linthicum is charged with four counts of attempted first-degree murder, seven counts of assault and a host of firearms offenses, online court records show. Attempted first-degree murder carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
His attorneys, Deborah Katz Levi, director of special litigation for the Office of the Public Defender, and James Dills, district public defender for Baltimore County, contend the police response to their client’s mental crisis was flawed. Their defense of Linthicum at trial will focus in part on officer mishaps that amounted to a “grossly reckless response,” they wrote in their latest motion.
The highly-publicized case has been mired in disputes over evidence sharing, with Levi and Dills repeatedly accusing prosecutors of failing to disclose police files they described as critical to Linthicum’s defense and of bias against their client.
Levi and Dills escalated those claims in their latest motion, alleging the office of Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger conspired with county police to delay an investigation into Chih’s use of force during his encounter with Linthicum. Levi said in court that she believes that decision was intended to prevent Chih from giving a statement that could have been favorable to Linthicum’s defense.
She said the defense had retained two experts and was in the process of retaining a third. If Levi had the chance to call them to the witness stand, the experts would have testified about prosecutorial misconduct, “prosecutors’ ethical obligations more generally and conflicts that arise from their close relationship with the police,” and internal police investigations in Baltimore County, according to the defense motion.
“This needs to get to a judge before trial. … It is everything to Mr. Linthicum’s case,” Levi told Cahill.
Assistant State’s Attorney Zarena Sita described the defense’s latest legal filing as unfounded in court Monday, saying many of the points raised by Linthicum’s attorneys already had been decided by a judge who ruled in the prosecution’s favor.
In addition to a defendant’s right to a speedy trial, prosecutors also have an interest in resolving cases in a timely manner, Sita added.
“There are victims in this case, victims who have a desire to have this case resolved,” Sita told Cahill.