Rachel Morin case: Suspect's trial on murder, rape charges pushed to April

Dan Belson, The Baltimore Sun on Oct 4, 2024

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BALTIMORE — The man accused of killing Bel Air mother Rachel Morin won’t face trial until at least April, a Harford County judge ruled during a Friday hearing.

The decision came after the defense team representing Victor Martinez-Hernandez said there was a “voluminous” amount of evidence to review ahead of the trial, which had been scheduled to begin in late October. That includes about a terabyte of data and scientific evidence of a “chemical nature,” public defender Marcus Jenkins said.

Communicating through a Spanish interpreter, Martinez-Hernandez, 23, waived his right to a speedy trial on Friday in order to allow the delay. Prosecutors, including Harford County State’s Attorney Alison Healey, did not object to the defense team’s argument.

Martinez-Hernandez was indicted in July on several charges including first-degree murder and first-degree rape for Morin’s killing last August on Bel Air’s Ma & Pa Trail. He had been identified as a suspect in the homicide and arrested in Tulsa, Oklahoma the prior month.

During Friday’s hearing, Harford County Circuit Judge Yolanda L. Curtin also denied a bid from prosecutors to exclude the Office of the Public Defender from representing Martinez-Hernandez. The State’s Attorney’s Office had argued that the public defender’s office had once represented a man identified as a potential prosecution witness.