Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Today a city jury convicted Myron Merrill Gladney, 20, of the 1600 block of Shady Side Road, of attempted first-degree murder, use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence and witness intimidation. The jury deliberated approximately 1:40 following one day of testimony. Judge John C. Themelis scheduled sentencing for September 5, 2007 and Gladney faces a possible maximum prison term of life plus 25 years. Details...
Evidence introduced at trial proved that Gladney approached Stephen Arrington as he waited for a bus in the 3400 block of The Alameda on April 6, 2005 and told him not to come to court. Arrington was scheduled to testify against Gladney’s brother in a homicide trial the next day. Myron Gladney left the area then returned a few minutes later with a handgun and chased Arrington across The Alameda where he eventually shot him in the back.

Arrington eventually did testify in Anthony Gladney’s murder trial and Anthony Gladney was acquitted of murder by a city jury July 20, 2005. Arrington also testified this week and positively identified Myron Gladney as the man who shot him.

Assistant State’s Attorney Lisa Phelps said calling this case “witness intimidation does not adequately describe the horrific and brazen nature of what Gladney did to the victim in this case.”
Congressman Elijah Cummings plans to ask Congress for $90 million to help the city fight witness intimidation, he recently met with Alberto Gonzales to talk about the issue.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

After living right in the middle of charles village and s***ing bricks every time I came home, I've figured out how to deal with Baltimore. I moved one mile north, where the nearest ghetto is about 3/4 mile away. I walk only within this area. I get off 83 at Cold Spring instead of 28th. I pay for garage parking. hey Dixon and Hamm: Go **** yourself.

ppatin said...

Aren't you being a little overly dramatic? Driving from 83 on 28th street in daylight is perfectly safe.

John Galt said...

Need I remind you that the Yellow Cab driver was murdered a 28th Sreet & Maryland Ave.? Or all the crackhead nonsense coming over from Remington ?

John Galt said...

I've been thinking about what Circuit Court Judge Glynn keeps saying about 10,000 cases and a maximum capacity to handle 500 jury trials.


FYI, while around 65,000 criminal cases (mostly misdemeanor) are filed n District Court each year, only about 22,000 are disposed
of at trial. Of these, the bulk are PBJ, about a quarter of all 16,000 Guilty rulings. Only about 1,500 are Not Guilty. 37,000 are Null Prossed and about 7,200 are put on the Stet.

Because the criminal courts use nontrial dispositions to get around their resource constraints (too many criminals per capita), they have to offer generous plea deals to clear the docket, because the Constitution guarantees speedy trial in addition to jury trial.

Hence, the watered-down penalties have no deterrent effect and the crime flourishes.

The answer is to ensure the courts the capacity to try by jury the same percentage of our vast criminal population as outlying counties have relative to their much smaller criminal populations. . That means a lot more trials and far less generous plea deals.

It also facilitates more resources for the extensive voir dire needed in a city where most jurors must be disqualified because of their filial or social affinity with criminals.

Think about it: the District & Circuit courts don't handle juvie. Adult males in Baltimore number around 170,000. From those we get 85% of the 75,000 District & Circuit Court cases a year, or just under 65,000 cases. That's 45% of the males on average, so at least half the mothers shouldn't serve on the jury. But interviewing them all takes resources to get a valid jury.

The Circuit Court and State's Attorney don't have those resources, so violent offenders get a Not Guilty at trial, so the State's Attorney is encouraged to offer a sweeheart deal.

And do recall what the gal interviewed about her support of Sheila Dixon said: she's been there and done that just like us. A 100% Tolerance mayor for a criminal-sympathetic constituency.

Turning a blind official eye to hoodlum behavior should be grounds for summary removal.

If the polls are right and her policies persist for another four years, this city's gonna reach an all-time low in quality of life, life-expectancy, and population.

No wonder this place sucks!

Anonymous said...

Relatives of criminals are allowed to serve on juries and frequently do. There would never be enough jurors in Baltimore if they were excluded. Mothers with kids who are charged with the same crime as a defendant are allowed to sit on the defendant's jury by some Baltimore judges

ppatin said...

Such a shortage of jurors and they still didn't pick me for one when I was called for jury duty. Pity, I was ready to do some convicting.

DurhamSt said...

They way for a white male to get picked for jury duty is to dress in a stereotypical "liberal" manner. I also just happened to be reading a classic work of fiction. The SA will be glad to have a white male on the jury, and the defense will be happy to have a "liberal thinker". Then you can send them to jail, that is after you defeat the "What if aliens really did come down and probe the guy...I mean I can imagine that happening" arguments of other jurors.

ppatin said...

Good idea. Next time I get called for jury duty (which'll probably be about a year from now) I'll carry a book by Toni Morrison with me.

Maurice Bradbury said...

I've never gotten jury duty either!

ppatin said...

Do you mean you've never been summoned, or after being summoned you were never seated on a jury?

Emptyman said...

By law and design, there is no such thing as "extensive voir dire" in the State of Maryland. It is not a resource issue. Voir dire is deliberately kept to a minimum in this State. It is certainly true that Baltimore City juries offer up some jaw-dropping, breathtaking acquitals in criminal cases, something I am reminded of whenever I hear a city resident boo-hooing about crime. You want criminals to go to jail? Start convicting them. But the acquittals are in part a self-inflicted wound by the police department.

When someone from a desperate neighborhood sits on a jury and sees a young black man on trial, he/she sees a brother, a father, a son. The juror knows about the impact of all those brothers and fathers and sons being taken away to jail. To make matters worse, that juror has had first- or second-hand experience of police idiocy, which is a function of having too many young cops and nonexistent oversight of police abuse. So not only is the juror inclined to identify with the suspect, but the juror is also conditioned to instantly disbelieve anything the police say.

The citizens of Baltimore need to understand that convicting criminals is for the good of their neighborhood. The police of Baltimore need to understand that if only a small number of them are bullies, liars, or crooks, it leads directly to none of them having credibility among the powerless people the bad cops prey upon. And the powerless people suddenly have power when they are on a jury...

Maurice Bradbury said...

Never been summoned, and I've been a city resident over 18 since 1996!

Maurice Bradbury said...

Non, it's good to be safe, but you really need to get a grip! It's safe to drive around pretty much anywhere as long as you don't interact with anyone or get out of the car!

ppatin said...

Wow. I first registered to vote in the city in late 2002 and have been summoned twice since then. Do they need a certain male/female balance in the jury pool? I'm guessing there are significantly fewer men than women in the city who're eligible for jury service.

ppatin said...

"It's safe to drive around pretty much anywhere as long as you don't interact with anyone or get out of the car!"

I'd add an "in daylight" caveat to that sentence. If I were driving around an area like Oliver, Sandtown or Cherry Hill after dark I'd be pretty nervous.

Sort of related funny story, a friend of mine was once carjacked up on York road, but the hoodlums couldn't take her car because it had a manual transmission and none of those little shits knew how to drive stick.

Caederus said...

I've been called to Jury Duty twice. The first time I was 18 and living in the city. I actually made it to the jury box, before the defense objected to me and I got to go to lunch.

During the voir dire process, the judge gave a couple of key points to the case (Defendents names, location, Victum names, where the cops were out of) and asked all the jurors, anyone have a reason to believe they might know or be influenced by any of this, or shouldn't be in the jury. I will always remember on woman. She raised her hand and when asked what her information was she stated..." I work at the dunkin donuts across the police station in question. I know all the cops that work there". The judge chuckled and said it was the best excuse he had ever heard.

BTW if you ever move to St Mary's county the jury duty is not one day/one trial. It's 6 months of having to call in. You could get 2-3 trials. But there are whole weeks where they don't need anyone.

Anonymous said...

Such a shortage of jurors and they still didn't pick me for one when I was called for jury duty. Pity, I was ready to do some convicting.

GLAD THEY DIDN'T PICK YOU WITH THAT ATTITUDE.

^^^

SOME...get off because they are actually innocent. Its the jury's duty to determine this....not go into jury duty with the intent to convict.


Please be more careful about how you phrase things. Your ignorance is pervasive

Anonymous said...

"When someone from a desperate neighborhood sits on a jury and sees a young black man on trial, he/she sees a brother, a father, a son. The juror knows about the impact of all those brothers and fathers and sons being taken away to jail. To make matters worse, that juror has had first- or second-hand experience of police idiocy, which is a function of having too many young cops and nonexistent oversight of police abuse. So not only is the juror inclined to identify with the suspect, but the juror is also conditioned to instantly disbelieve anything the police say."

so only ppl from good neighborhoods make good jurors?


Your comments are very insulting. What is a desperate neighborhood? and let me get this straight - the only ppl that tend to be able to relate to black men are other black men?


WOW! I pray that none of you end up on a jury. It is your job to weigh the evidence.

and disbelieving the Police is not a condition......most of them LIE. Im a law abiding citizen and I've seen them in action. Old cops aren't right either...so there's another hole in your theory.


Good try tho!

Good day!


Also...heard CYBERIAN on Steiner...I see she/you kept the sacasm and finger pointing to a minimum. Good Job!

Anonymous said...

Non, it's good to be safe, but you really need to get a grip! It's safe to drive around pretty much anywhere as long as you don't interact with anyone or get out of the car!

I drove from York and Northern Pkway all the way down Greenmount to Monument St on a recent Saturday. It went from so-so to bad (beautiful old houses in Waverly though!) to worse (33rd to Monument). But no one bothered me.

I'm glad my car didn't decide to break down though!