Rachel Morin case: Maryland judge denies defense motion to sequester jurors

Matt Hubbard, The Baltimore Sun on Mar 31, 2025

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BALTMORE — A Harford County judge denied two defense motions related to jury selection Monday during a pre-trial conference for Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, who is charged with rape and murder in the August 2023 killing of Rachel Morin of Bel Air. Martinez-Hernandez’s trial is scheduled to begin Tuesday.

Harford County Circuit Judge Yolanda Curtin said jury selection will take place Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, with 120 to 130 potential jurors arriving at the courthouse each day. Her plan is to have a jury selected by the end of the day Thursday and opening statements on Friday.

Morin, a 37-year-old Bel Air mother of five, was reported missing by her boyfriend on Aug. 5, 2023, hours after she went for a walk on the Ma & Pa Heritage Trail in Bel Air. Morin’s body was found in a ditch the next day, about a mile from the trailhead, after what the Harford County Sheriff’s Office described as “a violent attack.”

Martinez-Hernandez, 24, of El Salvador, was arrested in June in Oklahoma and is facing several charges, including first-degree rape and first-degree murder in Morin’s death.

Lawyers representing Martinez-Hernandez filed two motions Monday, one asking the judge to sequester jurors and a second requesting the use of an additional questionnaire during juror selection.

During the conference Monday Martinez-Hernandez sat in a black-and-white prison uniform with shackles around his ankles and his wrists cuffed in front of his stomach. He was accompanied by three defense attorneys and two translators who spoke to him through microphones and headphones. According to police, Martinez-Hernandez entered the U.S. illegally in 2023 after he was accused of murdering a woman in El Salvador.

The courtroom was mostly empty with Patricia Morin, Rachel Morin’s mother, sitting next to her attorney, Randolph Rice, in the second row behind prosecutors.

Similar to the January hearing during which Martinez-Hernandez requested to have his trial moved out of Harford County, much of the conversation Monday revolved around pre-trial publicity, the political climate surrounding the case and the potential impact those two things could have on jurors.

In their first motion, Martinez-Hernandez’s attorneys asked for the ability to give potential jurors a questionnaire to further identify potential bias and knowledge of the case.

Harford County State’s Attorney Allison Healy objected to the questionnaire primarily because it was filed so close to the start of the trial. Healy said the questionnaire was an attempt to delay the trial, since the questions would have to go through an approval process.

The motion was denied by Curtin, who said some of the proposed questions, asking whether jurors made campaign contributions to Healy or if they donated to the Morin family, were a “fishing expedition” that didn’t identify bias.

Curtin said the current process for juror questioning is sufficient.

The second motion filed by the defense aimed to sequester jurors by housing them in a hotel each night of the trial without access to electronics. The defense argued that pre-trial publicity and growing national interest in the case could potentially prejudice jurors by presenting information outside of the courtroom that will not be discussed during the trial.

Curtin asked if the defense’s intention was to have the jurors cut off from their everyday lives and the outside world during the trial. Public defender Marcus Jenkins responded, “Yes.”

Curtin denied the request, calling it “extreme” and “not necessary” and noted that jurors haven’t been sequestered in a Maryland trial in more than 20 years.

The defense maintained that their job is to “ensure Martinez-Hernandez receives a fair trial” and that pre-trial publicity is posing a challenge to that.

During Monday’s hearing, the defense team, Healy and Curtin all agreed that Rice’s comments to the media have been an “issue” in the case. Healy requested that Curtin order Rice to not speak to the media during the trial. Curtin had a sidebar conference with the attorneys, including Rice, after which Rice said he was asked to “be mindful” in his comments to the media, but that he was not barred from speaking to journalists.

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