Rachel Morin case: What to expect in murder trial of Maryland mother

BALTMORE — The trial of the man accused in the 2023 killing of Rachel Morin, which sparked fear in the Bel Air community and later became a talking point in the immigration debate amid the presidential race, is set to start this week.

The 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.”

Victor Antonio 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.

His trial, predicted to last two weeks, is expected to draw national attention, with Bel Air police warning of traffic delays around Harford County Circuit Court and the closure of several roads, including Courtland and Office streets.

The case is set to begin Monday with a pre-trial hearing, followed by several days of jury selection. Opening statements are tentatively set for Friday.

Martinez-Hernandez entered the United States illegally in 2023, authorities said, after having been accused of murdering a woman in El Salvador. He is also accused of assaulting a mother and daughter during a home invasion in Los Angeles.

On the campaign trail last year, then-candidate Donald Trump spoke with Morin’s family members numerous times and invited them to the Republican National Convention in July. There, Morin’s brother Michael addressed a crowd of thousands, telling them his sister “was raped and murdered by a suspected illegal immigrant” in what has been “described as among the most brutal and violent offenses that has ever occurred in Harford County, Maryland history.”

“Open borders are often portrayed as compassionate and virtuous. But there is nothing compassionate about allowing violent criminals into our country and robbing children of their mother,” Michael Morin said. “My sister’s death was preventable.”

Despite the emphasis placed on immigration in this case, experts say Martinez-Hernandez’s prior allegations and illegal entry into the U.S. will probably not be spoken about during his trial.

“I understand from a political perspective why this is relevant in today’s world, but it has nothing to do with if he is guilty or not guilty of committing this crime,” said Anne Arundel County criminal defense attorney Peter O’Neill. “It is highly prejudicial and is not probative to if he is guilty or not guilty.”

O’Neill, a member of the Maryland Bar since 1985 and a senior partner at the Murnane & O’Neill law firm, said that if the “extraneous information” regarding Martinez-Hernandez’s immigration status, the political traction the case has gained and the prior allegations were to be brought up during the trial, the chances of a mistrial would increase.

Michael Steele, former Maryland lieutenant governor and MSNBC political analyst, emphasized the importance of ignoring politics and focusing on due process in the case.

“Justice is blind to take the emotion out of it so our courts and justices and jurors can look objectively at the facts and rule based on law,” said Steele, a Republican. “The infection of politics into this space by Trump and anyone else is not only unwarranted, it’s outside of the bounds that the framers had in mind when designing a balance between the branches.”

Seating a jury

The defense team for Martinez-Hernandez — comprised of four public defenders — requested that the trial be moved outside Harford County in January due to concerns about Martinez-Hernandez getting a fair trial due to the controversy surrounding the case.

Harford County Circuit Court Judge Yolanda Curtin denied the request and said jury questioning — formally known as voir dire — is a trusted process to eliminate biased jurors.

O’Neill explained that jury selection in Maryland is limited and does not allow the defense or prosecutors to probe too far into a potential juror’s background. Numerous jury selection requests have been filed ahead of the trial, according to online court records. O’Neill said the filings are likely a request to expand jury questioning to further eliminate potential bias.

“They are trying to get a fair and impartial jury and the defense is asking the court to grant relief to allow for a more exhaustive voir dire to avoid a scenario of questioning that yields very little information,” O’Neill said. “You don’t want a situation where someone disregards evidence and convicts someone because of immigration policy.”

Randolph Rice, the attorney for Morin’s mother, Patricia Morin, said he believes Martinez-Hernandez’s defense team will try to question potential jurors on immigration and that the presiding judge will decide on any requests for additional questions.

Rice, a former prosecutor, does not expect the trial to be postponed for a second time and anticipates jury selection to take two to three days.

Morin family anxious

Speaking on behalf of Patricia Morin and other family members, Rice said the family met with prosecutors Tuesday and is anxious about the trial.

“Patty has the feeling that when Rachel was found, she wasn’t there to protect her,” Rice said. “She said she is having that same feeling now that she can’t protect her at the trial, but she knows she is in good hands with the state’s attorney’s office who has been working on the case for 18 months at this point.”

The day Morin’s body was discovered, Rice said Harford County State’s Attorney Allison Healy was at the scene. With Healy working on the case for over a year, Rice called the trial a “clean case” for prosecutors and said he expects the trial to go on for a week and a half to two weeks.

He said he expects forensic genealogy experts, witnesses, officers from Tulsa, Oklahoma and even FBI investigators to testify during the trial.

Healy declined to comment due to the pending trial.

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