November 11

An unidentified man was found shot to death near Wyman Park at 3732 Tudor Arms Ave. (I think one can assume in the Northern "not from this neighborhood" = "black")

Florida police arrested Ellis Lee Hickman Jr., wanted for the murder of Rakiyya States in Overlea. States was found in her flaming house in the bathtub with her fingertips cut off.

The body of a man found under the 29th street bridge Nov. 1 was identified as Bradley Wilkinson, 27, of Pennsylvania. He'd allegedly robbed a bank five days prior.

Terrance Wynn, 21, was found not guilty of the murder of 15-year-old Marshall Giles.

Police have no leads in the October 25 fatal stabbing of Jermaine Morrison, 24.

Stephan High, 22, was charged with first-degree murder in the mistaken-identity stabbing of William Green III, 19.

PGCo jurors: death a-ok for Kenneth Jamal Lighty, who kidnapped and killed the 19-year-old son of a police officer.

An 18-year-old shot in the right eye, an attempted murder arrest, shooting suspects at large and plenty of robberies and burglaries in the blotter.

Norman Johnson, 47, got 12 1/2 years after he pleaded guilty to attempted carjacking.

An eight-year-old boy was almost abducted in White Marsh, but the plucky lad escaped by landing a well-placed kick to the kneecap of his dark-clad would-be captor.

A Loyola dorm room was burgled.

PG county's 151st homicide was a fatal shooting in Landover. Also, three family members in Ellicott City pled guilty to importing counterfeit NASCAR and Lord of the Rings merchandise.

Two Towson high schools were on lockdown this morning after police recieved a report of a person with a gun.

Murder in Baltimore County is up by a whopping 10 percent!

In Cecil County a police chase led to a fatal accident and the death of a DVD pirate.

At a 12-year-old girl was arrested for phoning in a phony bomb threat to Frederick Middle School.

What I Learned at the BCCJ Meeting

Yesterday I dropped in on the Baltimore City Criminal Justice Coordinating Council meeting. It's a monthly meeting, chaired by Judge John Glynn, of all of the heads of the justice-related agencies in town: Hamm and the sheriff were there, and some Delegate, and a hot guy from the U.S. Attorney's Office, and like 20-something other people. Kind of like the Justice League in Superfriends, except boring, and they serve lunch. The discussions were kind of a yawn, and there was even a PowerPoint presentation, but the handouts were full of interesting facts. Here's a few, in no particular order:

• It costs, on average, $25,000 a year to keep someone in jail.


• A 28-day stay in a drug treatment program costs $32,800.


• In September, 6,787 people were arrested, versus 8,964 in August.


• In the past 12 months, 97,976 people have been processed at Booking and Intake. The center is currently operating at 135% of capacity.


• In November 2004, 262 people were arrested in the city for Attempted Murder.


• In 2004, the police department recieved 26,072 domestic violence calls, resulting in 5,317 arrests (I guess we don't have one of those Washington State laws where somebody has to go to jail). Seventy percent of women who are murdered are killed by partners and have been previously physically abused. There are only nine detectives handling all of the city's DV cases.


• The City Council wants to enforce a curfew on juveniles between midnight and 6 a.m. on weekends and 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. on weekdays, and also between 9 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. for juveniles 6 to 16.


• The biggest Circuit Court Divison ain't the criminal, it's the Family. In Fiscal Year '04, the Family Division dealt with 128,854 filings. The Family Division deals with 72 percent of all civil legal matters. Unlike Baltimore County, the city doesn't mandate mediation before going to court in custody cases, or make separating couples with kids attend co-parenting classes.


• There are 228 cameras posted around town. The cameras cost about $1 million each and were financed by seized assets and Homeland Security grants. According to Hamm, about 150 arrests were made last week on account of the cameras.


• About 80 to 85 percent of people arrested in the city are represented by public defenders.


• As of yesterday, Police Commissioner Hamm has been on the job for one year.

So there you go. Wish I'd asked Hamm about the 37% murder clearance rate, but the intimidatingness of all of the important people, the heat in the room and the soporific effect of the PowerPoint presentation made me chicken out at the last minute. Maybe next time.

November 10

In the Sun blotter, police are seeking information on the murder of 23-year-old Jermaine Fleming in Southwest Baltimore; Cyrus Beads was arrested for the June 7 triple shooting that left 44-year-old Lawrence Johnson dead and two teenagers wounded; two men playing video games resorted to gunplay to solve their differences; and armed robberies up the wazoo.

Now there are two Baltimore murder cases being re-examined in light of new DNA testing, and city prosecutors are not happy.

A Baltimore City Jury today convicted Keyona Dillon, 15, of attempted second-degree murder and possession of a concealed deadly weapon following two days of testimony and approximately one day of deliberation. Dillon stabbed a 15-year old girl on May 31 while walking in the 3800 block of St. Margaret Street.

The sex offense trial of Edgar West, originally scheduled to begin today, has been postponed. The new trial date is February 7, 2006 before Judge Sylvester Cox.

Deborah Weiner at WBAL-TV brings a human face to our region's staggering rate of drug addiction.

Baltimore County has three people and $300,000 to prevent gangs from becoming a problem.

Gambling charges are being dismissed against the 80 people arrested in the raid of a poker tournament in South Baltimore due to a technicality. Some participants thought the event was legal, since it was being touted as a charity fundraiser. Prosecutors may re-file charges, but it appears unlikely since even they think it's a "waste of court resources."

Members of the Baltimore City Fraternal Order of Police are trying to bring slot machines to the city in order to buy equipment for officers. The F.O.P. president stated that this is a last ditch effort to earn money, because "there's no more money for the government to give us." Meanwhile, back in July, the Washington Post ran a front-page story with the headline, "Maryland Reports Surplus of $1 Billion".

Two 13-year-old middle school students in Frederick County were charged with carrying concealed deadly weapons at school. One of the deadly weapons was a BB gun.

In Salisbury, James Bennett High School was locked down on a "Code Red alert" after a 17-year-old was found carrying a knife.

Yahoo! presented more national coverage about Baltimore's enlightened views on snitching. Chuck D. from Public Enemy offered a contrary voice to the standard hip-hop rhetoric: "If a person is cancerous to society, then a snitch sometimes is the best solution, with an army behind him."

November 9

28-year-old Corey Wyatt was shot to death on Monday night in his Northeast Baltimore home.

Murder Ink reports eight murders this week, plus the re-classification of 35-year-old Greg Morrison's September death as a homicide.

There was a shooting in Northwest Baltimore City.

Police say a missing grey backpack may be the key to the mysterious murder of Tiona Smith.

71-year-old Robert C. Griffin, imprisoned since 1986, will receive a new murder trial based upon recent DNA testing of evidence recovered from the victim's body. Prosecutors stand by the conviction against Griffin, stating they never claimed that he was the last person to have sex with the victim.

The sex offense trial of Edgar West, 34, of the 6100 block of Alta Avenue, is scheduled to begin tomorrow before Judge Sylvester Cox, 417 Mitchell Courthouse, 110 North Calvert Street. A Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted West March 28 on two counts each of second-degree child abuse, second degree sex offense and second-degree assault. Court documents allege West had sexual contact with two minors in September 2004.

Ay yi yi, MD now has one of those older-lady-teacher-young-boy cases. Kimberly Ann Cordrey-McKinney, 32, of Chestertown engaged in "acts" with a boy half her age.

Seems that the man caught with the 30-foot aluminum utility pole in his Chevy may not be behind the recent rash of lightpole thefts.

His lawyer says that gun charges against Maged Hussein will be dropped, due partially to his cooperation with agents investigating the Baltimore tunnel bomb threat and partially to the way a protective order that was filed by his wife was filled out. A hearing is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. tomorrow morning in courtroom 7, North Avenue District Court.

A Towson University student was robbed of $300 by two armed men who entered the student's dorm room.

Maryland Public Defenders report that they've been cut off from access to the criminal database. Interesting stat: 80 to 85 percent of criminal defendants in Baltimore City are represented by public defenders.

Armed robbery, armed robbery, and more armed robbery in the Sun's police blotter. Oh, and the "burgary" of 450 cartons of cigarettes. (Sorry, but typos in major daily newspapers are high on my list of pet peeves.)

An Annapolis couple was among the guests on a cruise ship that was attacked by pirates!

A woman is facing animal cruelty charges for collecting cats and starving dogs in NE Bmore.

November 8

At arraignment today, Charles Knott, charged with first-degree murder, pled not guilty. A jury trial was scheduled for February 3, 2006 before Judge Shirley Watts.

AA police detained, then released, a 26-year-old suspect in the murder of Michel Leo Rousseaux.

A man was shot in the small town of Fruitland (south of Salisbury).

Roger Hargrave was indicted on one charge of attempted murder and one first-degree assault count for his alleged attack on Yvette Cade.

The Jeffersonian reports lots of robberies, an abduction and a shadowy intruder in the Northeastern 'burbs.

Former Catholic Priest Jerome Toohey pled guilty to sexually abusing a Calvert Hall College student.

Baltimore car thieves have really bad taste.

Plenty of thefts and muggings in the Northern this week, and a carjacker who tried to evade capture by jumping in the Inner Harbor.

Stop the presses! Baltimore has an image problem. Consultants are being paid $500,000 to come up with a new slogan to combat the crisis-- and this embarrasing story has hit the newswire, making matters worse.

November 7

The body of 23-year old 23-year-old Tiona Smith, right, was discovered on Sunday morning by neighborhood children in the backyard of a house in Woodmoor. She was fully clothed, had suffered head injuries, and did not live at the house where she was found. Baltimore County homicide detectives are investigating.

The Sun's Metro Digest also mentioned the dead woman in Woodmoor, but only after reporting that Allen Reter was charged with theft after police discovered a stolen 30-foot lightpole sticking out of the back (and front) of his Chevy station wagon.

Charles Benedict Knott Sr. 51, aka the guy in Hampden who beat the other guy to death in broad daylight on the Avenue with a cane in front of children walking home from school, is scheduled for arraignment Tuesday morning before Judge Lynn K. Stewart. A Baltimore Grand Jury indicted Knott October 11 for first-degree murder in the death of James Garrett, 56. Court documents allege that "on September 16 in the 1100 block of West 36th Street Charles Knott and James Garrett got into an altercation which resulted in Knott striking Garrett several times with a cane about the head. Garrett was transported to Union Memorial Hospital where he later died from his injuries."

Police are seeking help finding witnesses to yesterday's shooting of Edison Moran in Rockville. Police believe it may be related to a dispute in the parking lot of the Tijuana Mexican Cafe.

The attempted murder trial of William Crudup that was scheduled to begin today has been postponed until November 14, 2005 before Judge John Glynn. Crudup is accused of shooting two plainclothes Baltimore City police officers Andrew Lane and Joseph Banks who tried to arrest him on drug charges in March.

The attempted murder trial of Keyona Dillon began this morning before Judge Wanda K. Heard. Dillon, 15, is charged with attempted murder in connection to a stabbing of a 15-year old girl on May 31.

What responsibility does the State have to keep foster children safe? That's the daunting question before the Court of Appeals today.

A hearing is scheduled for 1:30 tomorrow afternoon for Keon Ceasar, 19, in Room 1, Eastside District Court at 1400 E. North Avenue. Court documents allege that on September 26 Ceasar assaulted a witness in the second degree and did by threat endeavor to intimidate the witness in the discharge of his/her duty. Ceasar allegedly assaulted and threatened a witness of a non-fatal shooting because of that witness' involvement in the investigation of the shooting. Ceasar is currently being held at the Baltimore City Detention Center.

Hidden amongst the vandalism and theft in the Police Blotter is the rape of a 17-year-old girl at a party in Owings Mills.

Jerome Owens, aka the convenience-store robber with the teardrop tattoo, was arrested in Canton.

A growing trend of defendants who boycott their own trials.

Dan Rodricks at the Sun wonders why there is a poker crackdown in Baltimore when one in every 2,350 city residents are being murdered.

Curfews are being enforced for the under-18 crowd at some local suburban malls. No word yet on curfews for the city's under-18 drug dealer crowd.

The son of former Oriole Pete Rose pled guilty to using and selling a steroid alternative called GBL. He's facing up to 20 years in prison. The junior Rose said that he and teammates used it to unwind after games.

The SEC settled the Ahold NV/ U.S. Foodservice accounting fraud case, fining seven individuals $25k each.

November 6

Michel Leo Rousseaux, 28, of Severna Park was found shot to death in Glen Burnie.

Edison Moran, 22, was found shot to death in a car in Rockville.

In Blair-Witchy Burtonsville, a 52-year-old woman shot her 39-year-old boyfriend Daniel Shuler to death.

Four people were shot, one fatally, outside of the teen hangout Culture Club in PGC.

A police officer's car hit a telephone pole when a suspect rammed his cruiser in the Southwest.

The cold-case burning of Fleming's Bakery in Annapolis has now been classified as arson.

Officers and visitors are in trouble for smuggling contraband into state prisons.

Not criminal, but should be: Scooter Libby's hobby of writing depraved "erotic" tales about bears and young Japanese girls. Ew, ew, ew.