Tuesday, February 6, 2007

February 6

The last of the "Jugs," aka the Lexington Terrace Boys, Gregory Parker (at age 27 a boy no more) was sentenced to 20 years for conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine.

Six Baltimore police officers from the Eastern District were suspended as part of an internal affairs investigation into possible 'irregularities' with their overtime pay.

Tanea Bullock, 22, was sentenced today to 30 years in prison, all but 20 years suspended, to be served at the Patuxent Institution. A co-defendant, Lawrence Watson, 26, pled guilty to reckless endangerment and was sentenced to time served.

A man was shot on South Street and is in critical condition.
Friday's murder victim, shot to death at the Sugar Hill Tavern, was ID'd as Desmond G. Tucker, 52.

The Rachels wrote poems, killed themselves with carbon monoxide.
watchmen
Former Senator Thomas Bromwell's lawyers get scrappy, invoke Juvenal/ classic graphic novel in attempt to save the boss's severance package.

Dixon: "We have to get back to the days when officers knew the people who lived in the communities they patrolled, and the people in the community knew and trusted the officers that worked in their neighborhood."
Said Hamm, "at an unusual, impromptu press conference held in the mayor's office after [Dixon's] speech: 'I believe, and the mayor believes, that you cannot just enforce, enforce, enforce without providing some hope for the community.'"

smoothiewalt whitmanBethesda, MoCo: A bummer year for the "Whitman Five," a quint of numnuts charged with robbing a Smoothie King for the fun of it, among other crimes.

Me fail English? That non-possible Dept: "Disciplining students is no about setting rules and consequences."

Registered sex offender Allen Spencer attacked two female paramedics who were taking him to the hospital.

Five men in Aberdeen were snagged after trying to provide the world some good lovin' at a reasonable price.

It's now illegal to post campaign signs more than 45 days before a primary election in Baltimore County, and the ACLU isn't very happy.

Don't ever, ever give Morgan State coach Todd Bozeman the wrong sandwiches.

22 comments:

jaded said...

i have been a reader of your blog for over a year, and i think it is great.
just wondering your opinions of lenny hamm's comment last year in regards to the bpd officers who were just acquitted/charges dropped where he said, "what happened in the southwest is an embarrassment to us all."
the guys that had their lives turned upside down did nothing wrong, and not even their "fearless leader" would stand behind them. just wondering what you all thought.

Anonymous said...

Jaded,

First of all, I love your name.

Hammbone is no more than a reed that tries to sway however his bosses or the public tell him to sway. Which is sad really - we need a commissioner with spine here in baltimore and we're never going to get it as long as he's here.

Call me jaded if you want - but i'm convinced that O'M and Dixon just wanted someone who'll be a good boy and not screw things up too much and that's why we've got this tool. That being said, it doesn't surprise me for a moment that he'd cave into public pressure instead of saying a word at least somewhat neutral regarding that case.

I have no doubt that it is a monumental challenge to be the commissioner for one of the most violent cities in America and that he gets his fair share of heat. Still, his inability to do his job has been beyond disappointing and he is consistently rewarded by being allowed to keep it. He ought to just resign, get to work on his dream -- working as a campus security officer for a college where him ignoring things would get him rewarded.

Maurice Bradbury said...

Just because they were acquitted of one set of charges doesn't mean they "did nothing wrong," (40 condoms in a fake drawer? High-fives in the courtroom?) and Jemini Jones still has another rape trial coming up, so it's fitting that no one should comment at this point. He probably shouldn't have commented then, either, but with hundreds of cases having to be thrown out because of the charges, it's understandable that he felt like he had to say something.

Have you noticed this new deputy, Bealefeld, seems much more vocal than Marcus Brown? Or maybe because he's new I notice him more.

Marc said...

So you can't post a sign on your lawn unless it's 45 days before a primary? How about wearing a button on your jacket? Can you talk to your neighbors about an upcoming election?

Remember, whenever anyone talks about "campaign finance reform" or "getting special interests out of politics" what they really want to do is protect incumbents.

jaded said...

thanks for responding...
Cynic, I totally agree with you that he is/was a mouthpiece for my all time favorite city politician, the big O. I think that whole situation was an embarrassment to the big O because Jessamy decided to bring up BOGUS charges in the middle of his campaign for governor.
Cy,
While there may be some stupidity involved there with the condoms-though, they seemed to be explained away in trial (I don't think you could just make up his explanation)-that does not mean he raped someone. Additionally, the fact that another woman comes right behind the first with virtually the same story, and again, no eveidence suggests to me that the SA's office is out to get someone and/or prove a point. As for all the cases that were dropped due to their being charged...the blood is surely on the hands of the SA's office. Proper investigation work on their part before hanging these officers out to dry would have saved them hundreds of cases.
Also, thanks for the link about Bealefield...interesting. I didn't know that Marcus Brown was leaving...

ppatin said...

David Simon's going to be speaking at Loyola this evening, in case anyone's interested.

Unknown said...

ppatin... what time and exactly where on campus? do you know what the topic is he'ss speaking about. I love The Wire and have always wanted to meet him, at least I can see him

taotechuck said...

The Loyola web site gives the following: “On ‘The Wire’: a Night with David Simon," 7:30 pm, McGuire Hall

If I don't need to go to DC tonight, I'll be there. If you see a tall scruffy bald guy with earrings and a black pea coat, come say hi.

ppatin said...

I was going to post the information but taetochuck beat me to it.

In other news, the BPD suspended six officers because of "irregularities" with their overtime according to the Sun.

Maurice Bradbury said...

Jaded, if the main officer is involved in a serious ethical breach.. and the rape cases(s) weren't all that was going on there, that compromises every single case said officer touched, and there's nothing the SA's office can do to save the case. What jury could convict with the investigator so tainted? The officers investigate, the SA prosecutes cases.

No, 40 condoms in a fake drawer doesn't mean he's guilty, but his lame explaination about it being a "joke" about his fecundity doesn't make him innocent, either. The accuser, and the SA's office, and the police department, and the federal investigators, had nothing to gain and lots to lose to bring the case to court.

John Galt said...

SIS,

You love 'the Wire'.

I live 'the Wire'.

I'm ROFLMFAO about Sheila Dixon 'discovering' the concept of trustworthy cops.

She must have been researching this at Rutgers or John Jay with a crack Criminal Justice team for months.

ppatin said...

I was a little disappointed in the talk that David Simon gave. Homicide showed that he was a good journalist, and The Wire is a fantastic TV show, but Simon's theory about how kids go out and deal drugs because post-industrial society devalues the individual seemed pretty half-baked.

Unknown said...

Galt, I love "the Wire", I "live" the wire, and "breathe" the wire....

I just meant I loved the show hehe, but really who in baltimore hasn't experienced at least one moment of that show in real life? Well whi in Baltimore B hasn't?

I wish i could've made the David Simon appearance, but work got in the way.

patches said...

Hey, what genius though this was going to be a good idea?

Hey guys, this is a Democrat state, and will always be a Democrat state. Hint: The Democrats are always going to win the popular vote in this state, ergo, they are going to send Democrat Maryland Electors to the Electoral College, to vote for the Democrat candidate.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Not to mention blatantly unconstitutional.

I guess the State really believes it knows best for all Marylanders.

burgersub said...

can any of you guys that went to the david simon talk settle something please? two people i know went to this, and one insists that simon said there would be not just a 5th season, but also a 6th season, but that neither would deal with the growing hispanic population as was rumored.

the other says that she must have misheard and that all he said was that he wasn't doing the hispanic thing, and is still insisting it will end after five seasons. who is right?

ppatin said...

"Not to mention blatantly unconstitutional."

Not true. The constitution allows the states to give out their electoral votes in any way they choose. Maryland could use a coin-toss to decide who gets our support in the electoral college and there would be nothing unconstitutional about it.

ppatin said...

Simon said (no pun intended) that there is not going to be a sixth season. As far as I know that's always been his position. He did say that he thinks there is an interesting story to be told about the growing Hispanic population in Baltimore, but neither he nor his writers know very much about it. Season 5 of The Wire will be its last.

Maurice Bradbury said...

Patches, "Democratic" is the adjectival form of "Democrat," which is a noun.

patches said...

Yeah, my grammer sucks, I apologize.


Ppatin-

I believe there are a couple of seperate constitutional issues, involving both the Federal and State constitutions. I need to do some more reading of the Maryland Constitution (not to mention find the relevant section of MD code which describes the process for electing electors), because I think a lot of it is procedural issues.

I think there's also an excellent case for unintentional disfranchisement of Maryland voters...

Uh, I also promise next time I won't make sweeping statements without having the necessary facts to back them up first.

ppatin said...

Good point about the state constitution. There's nothing in the federal constitution that says you aren't allowed to disenfranchise voters though. Back in 2000 the Florida legislature was prepared to elect a slate of Republican electors if the Bush/Gore fight hadn't resolved itself in time, and as far as I know no one ever said that would have been unconstitutional.

John Galt said...

Too bad there's no constitutional amendment protecting our inalienable right to tar & feather the elected bastards.

Si Fitz said...

No Pun taken