David Linthicum’s defense questions actions of Baltimore County Police

Dylan Segelbaum

The Baltimore Banner

September 24, 2024

Ezra Van Auken was picking up a prescription from the Giant Food on York Road after class at the Community College of Baltimore County Catonsville and saw two helicopters flying above him.

His mother, he said, had told him about an ongoing manhunt.

David Linthicum was wanted for shooting Officer Barry Jordan on Feb. 8, 2023, after he had responded to a home on Powers Avenue above Sherwood Road in Cockeysville for a 911 call about a man with a gun threatening to kill himself.

Van Auken said he was surprised that police had not found the man, and he decided to try and help. He said he was familiar with the area. So, he drove out toward a bridge on Warren Road that goes over the Loch Raven Reservoir — and, eventually, spotted a man wearing a hoodie and khakis.

“I knew it was him,” Van Auken testified over Zoom. “I was completely certain.”

But Van Auken said when he told police Feb. 9, 2023, he felt that they either did not take him seriously or doubted the accuracy of his account.

Later, Linthicum shot Detective Jonathan Chih, who went out by himself in an unmarked 2013 Ram 1500 to check out a report of a man walking along Warren Road.

On Tuesday, Linthicum’s attorneys, Deborah Katz Levi and James Dills, called four additional witnesses to try to make their case that, from the beginning, Baltimore County Police bungled their response to a mental health crisis. They rested after their client elected to not testify in his own defense.

Linthicum, 26, of Cockeysville, is standing trial in Baltimore County Circuit Court on five counts of attempted first-degree murder and related offenses. Both sides on Wednesday are expected to deliver their closing arguments.

Levi is director of special litigation for the Maryland Office of the Public Defender in Baltimore. Dills is district public defender for Baltimore County.

Harford County Sheriff’s Sgt. Matthew Anthony DeMarino testified that he started a conversation with Linthicum and tried to build an emotional connection so police could arrest him with the least possible amount of force.

By that time, prosecutors allege, Linthicum had stolen the detective’s unmarked pickup, bailed out in Harford County and took off into the woods.

DeMarino said he wanted to bring the temperature down and peacefully end the situation. He even shared with Linthicum a fun fact about himself: He used to work as the personal chef for Baltimore Orioles legend Cal Ripken Jr.

“Can’t make it up,” DeMarino said to laughs from spectators in the courtroom gallery.

In body camera video of their interaction, Linthicum calls out, “I want you to kill me.”

“I’m not that kind of person,” DeMarino responds, “and want you to walk away from here.”

While DeMarino continued to converse with Linthicum, law enforcement moved in and took him into custody.

On several occasions, Levi clashed with Circuit Judge Garret P. Glennon Jr. over his rulings to sustain objections to her questions.

“Basis?” Levi asked.

“Next question, counsel,” Glennon replied.

Glennon admonished Levi in front of the jury for what he described as editorializing after she made a comment about how her client has the constitutional right to present a defense.

At one point, Levi objected to a question that Deputy State’s Attorney John Cox posed to a witness and then added, “Just trying.”

Later, Tyrone Powers, an expert in police training, policies and procedures, testified that officers are taught the following when dealing with people experiencing a mental health crisis: contain, control, contact and communicate.

Police, he said, should establish a perimeter when there are no hostages — either to try to deescalate a situation themselves, or to bring in additional help.

“How long it takes is irrelevant,” said Powers, who added that there is no urgency to initiate a confrontation. “The key is the sanctity of human life.”

Linthicum, he said, had essentially barricaded himself in the basement. People experiencing suicidal thoughts are not making logical decisions, and officers moving in can aggravate or escalate a situation, Powers testified.

Meanwhile, Powers testified, police are trained not to approach people considered armed and dangerous alone. Instead, he said, they’re supposed to wait for backup — or “force multipliers.”

Though police might have had noble intentions, Powers said, he found their actions in the case to be inconsistent with training, policies and procedures.

On cross-examination, Powers said he was being paid $315 per hour for his work for the defense. But he drew a distinction earlier between his time and his testimony.

“Nobody,” he said, “can buy my testimony.”