Bel Air, Md. (Map, News) - The man accused last year of Bel Air’s road rage murder is throwing away “the deal of the century” in seeking a new trial, his former attorney says.

Michael Razzio Simmons, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and received a prison sentence of 30 years for the stabbing of Patrick Walker last May, has asked to withdraw his plea and stand trial.

But the attorney Simmons accuses of failing to adequately inform him of his options said his former client’s chances in front of a jury might be slim.

“The state had filed a murder case, seeking life without parole,” said David Henninger, the Bel Air lawyer who represented Simmons until April. “He pleaded out to second degree, with a referral to the youthful offenders’ program [at the Patuxent Institution in Jessup]. ... I think he got the deal of the century.”

Court documents said Simmons sought a new trial because Henninger and other attorneys did not keep him informed in the case and may not have told him about evidence in his favor when advising him to take the deal.

“I talked for hours and hours with the family, explaining [the plea] to them. ... There’s no question that the parents, the son and everybody else was on the same page,” Henninger said.

Though one witness — a friend of Simmons’ brother riding with them when the incident occurred — said she didn’t see blood on his clothing after he leaned into Walker’s car, other witnesses and blood-spatter experts would testify in a trial that it appeared he stabbed Walker there, Henninger said.

Overall, Henninger said, the police had enough evidence to contradict his former client’s testimony that he and Walker struggled outside their cars before Walker “ran into” the knife Simmons carried.

If Simmons’ new lawyer, Kenneth Ravenell, is successful in arguing for a new trial, the state may not offer another bargain and would continue to pursue a life sentence, Henninger said.

“If he gets what he’s asking for, he might not like the results,” Henninger said.

Ravenell did not respond to calls for comment this week.

msantoni@baltimoreexaminer.com