Margaret Burns of the prosecutor's office: "Snitch in a box" and payola defense attorneys "the rare exception to the regular criminal justice process."

New DNA evidence in Donna Dustin's cold case murder will be the talk of the Bowie High reunion.
(Another, sadder version of the story from the Ann Cap)

August 8

16-year-old Matthew Scarbourough was shot and killed when he walked in on his family's apartment being robbed.

It's My Snitch in a Box Dept: "The defense attorney in a Baltimore murder trial is accused of visiting the prosecution's main witness in jail over the weekend and trying to convince him to change his story, allegedly by asking him, "How does it feel to be a snitch? You know what happens to people when they snitch? They leave jail in a box."

"An argument between neighbors over their pit bulls ended in gunfire"
(Incident mapped by Spotcrime)

Also "Two people were shot and wounded in separate incidents this morning"

.. in happier news, July's homicides were (reportedly) the fewest since 2001! :)

Media Blabber
Did you Know? The Library of Congress collects materials in virtually every format and representing all subject matter, with the exceptions of clinical medicine and technical agriculture (those subjects are collected by the National Library of Medicine and the National Agricultural Library.) Their holdings also do not overlap with the topic areas represented in the the library of William W. Smith.

I think I know where all of our commentators went yesterday-- they were typing on Meister's "Linden Liquors killer" post.
Speaking of Examiners, typo of the day from "Health Examiner" Dr. Delia Chiaramonte: "Controversy brews over prostrate testing." (Isn't is crazy how the "Examiners'" posts are mixed in with the news stories on the main page-- as if there was no difference between the two?!)

40 Years for Parolee/Home Invader

From the SA's office:

The Honorable John C. Themelis sentenced Michael Hayes, AKA Michael Evans, to 40-years {sic} in prison today after a jury convicted him on June 10, 2008 of armed robbery, theft over $500, first-degree burglary and unauthorized use following a 3-day jury trial[.]

Hayes, 27, of the 3200 block of Magnolia Ave was paroled on July 11, 2007 and 16-days {sic} later Baltimore police officers responded to a report of an armed robbery and home invasion in the 6400 block of Everall Avenue. The victim testified that he was walking from his mailbox to his front door about 6 PM when Hayes and another male approached him and pointed a silver handgun in his face and forced entry to his home. The men demanded money and hit the victim in the face. The armed robbers ransacked the home demanding guns and money. As the victim’s wife arrived home, the gunmen fled in the victim’s car with personal property. The car was located in the 5600 block of Farndale Avenue within 30-minutes {sic} of the incident. The defendant’s fingerprint was located at the crime scene and he was identified in a photo array.

15 Years for Man Who Kidnapped & Shot Hack Cabbie

From the SA's office:

This morning Judge Robert Kershaw sentenced Raymond Saunders, 21, of the 2200 block of Sydney Avenue, to life suspend all but 15-years in prison with 3-years supervised probation for attempted first-degree murder and 5-years for the use of a handgun in a crime of violence after he plead guilty to the facts of the case. The sentences will run concurrently.

The elements of the offenses to which Saunders has plead guilty are as follows: On April 11, 2007 at 11:25 am in the 2400 block of Wilgrey Court, police officers found Michael Storm bleeding profusely after being shot in the chest and left arm. Mr. Storm reported that he had been operating as a “Hack” when he met Raymond Saunders to transport him to 2400 block of Wilgrey Court. After exiting the vehicle, and while Mr. Storm was waiting in his vehicle on another patron, Saunders returned to the vehicle to inquire about his cell phone believing he had left it in the car. When the phone was not found in the vehicle, Saunders became agitated with Storm. Storm entered the dwelling with Saunders in an effort to help him find the missing phone insisting to him that he did not have the phone. Saunders became more irate and held Mr. Storm captive at gunpoint. During the hours of captivity Saunders forced Storm to drive him around at gunpoint, accusing him of stealing the cell phone, threatening him and insisting the phone be returned. They returned to the 2400 block of Wilgrey Court when Saunder’s {sic} became irate and shot Michael Storm. Though Michael Storm suffered extensive internal injuries he was able to identify Raymond Saunders as the person who shot him after being held captive for 11-hours. Other witnesses present in the 2400 block of Wilgrey Court identified Saunders as the shooter. Raymond Saunders fled to New York and was arrested there by the Warrant Apprehension Task Force and the New York Police Department.

15 years for all that? i thought kidnapping was usually considered kind of a big deal!

Sex Offenses Real and Imaginary

"Lawyers for a former Catholic priest and the Archdiocese of Baltimore say they are close to settling a sexual abuse case filed by the parents of a man who died of a drug overdose, allegedly as a result of the priest’s actions 17 years ago."

BP: remember how we said Sergeant Smith was a drug-addled pervert? Our bad!

Suspected serial sex predator/murderer William V. Brown may face more charges.

Baltimore County police have obtained arrest warrants for four convicted sex offenders, and are asking for the public's help in locating them.

Meister: "It's time to combine two of my favorite subjects: Patricia Jessamy and Linden Bar and Liquors." (don't miss the comments!)

It's the case of the Baltimore Raven and the missing insurance $$

Thursday... bang bang bang!

A man was shot to death at about 1:30 this morning in the 500 block of Castle Drive in the Lake Walker neighborhood.

The lead-based love-fest continues in Baltimore this morning, as three men were shot last night and a kid was shot after midnight today.

So it turns out that five of those involved in the Quintuple shooting (yes, Quintuple Shooting) may be connected to the Bloods. And some people in this town think there aren’t any Gangs…

For all of you who think that your boss is bad: Police are now holding Alice Collins for the murder of Elizabeth Mary Queensbury, which stemmed from a robbery attempt.

Okay, so some cop we were made to be a bad guy is actually one of the good guys. Great – not even the police can differentiate anymore.

News flash: If you say in a commercial “Our car deals are so low you’ll think I’m on drugs!”, you aren’t supposed to literally have them.

Sheila Dixon doesn’t care about poor people. Well, at least someone does, I guess…

August 6

What the?! Five people shot "in the lower body" in the SW last night, police say they were Bloods. mapped by Spotcrime

The man killed on West Fayette last night was ID'd as Jeffrey Alston of Catonsville.

The Ink has four murders from last week, plus updates

A man was robbed and shot while fetching Chinese takeout on Harford Road.

Since Vic wanted to know what happened with the shooting at Robert E. Lee, maybe someone else wondered also-- it turned out that it was a lesbian-stalker type situation-- Sirlilar Jewelle Stokes, 19, female patron of the 2 O'Clock strip Club, lured 18-year-old dancer Ashley Davis into her car, took her to the park at dawn, shot her, then returned to the same club later that afternoon, where she was arrested.
Aside, have you ever been to Pride? There are quite a lot of "Snoops" in this town.

Feds to Seek Big D For Lackl Murder

The U.S. Attorney’s Office will seek the death penalty in the prosecution of Patrick Albert Byers, Jr. for the murder of Carl Stanley Lackl.

August 5, 2008

Sentementes reports that a 23-year-old man was shot and killed early this morning in the 1700 block of W. Fayette St. in West Baltimore.

Ralph Hall, 37, was found July 30 shot to death behind the Dr. Roland N. Patterson Sr. Academy in the 4700 block of Greenspring Avenue.

Umar Ibn Shakir, 18, was shot to death in Woodlawn in the county

... three shootings in three days mapped here

Two men convicted of three counts of first-degree murder yesterday: Derrick Collins, 24, was convicted in the Dec. 18 killing of 33-year-old Annette Bardney, and Larry Joseph, 19, was convicted for killing Deion Morris and Channing Myrick in September of last year. Morris and Myrick were shot to death in Belair-Edison in "broad daylight as an afternoon church service was getting out."

A victim of suspected rapist/murderer William Brown spoke to Stephen Janis.

Yikes: "Baltimore police and prosecutors knew a “serial rapist” was on the loose as early as 2005, but never alerted the public."

There's a new warden today at Central Booking -- a girl one!

Sex-offender stories from Crofton and Columbia

"The Defense Ministry says hundreds of soldiers have been deployed in cities across Italy as part of government measures to fight street crime."
(thx glt)

Monday

Peter Moskos, author of Cop In The Hood, finds a few problems with our trustworthy and dependable cops' current state of affairs.

Nicholas Browning, accused of slaying his family in cold blood, is arguing that he was not in the right frame of mind when he did it. Go Onnnnn...

Loser Clark Rockefeller is headed back to Beantown.

And how could we not talk about The Cos coming to Harm City?

Community Announcements

Next Tuesday August 12, 6-8 p.m. Mayor Dixon will hold a "Neighborhood Conversation" at Loyola College Andrew White Student Hall, 2nd Floor,
4501 N. Charles Street Baltimore, MD 21210.
For more info, call the Mayor's Office of Neighborhoods at 410-396-4735.
(Their slogan: "you may as well be calling the MOON!")

Meister reports on a new blog-- Baltimore John Watch!
... for more on Internet john-watching, see this Wired article
(Now that William Brown is in jail, are the prostitute killings going to stop?)

Clark Rockefeller?

Baltimore makes a cameo in the international news cycle as another criminal flees to the Promised Land. This time it's noncustodial-kidnapper dad "Famous Phony" Clark Rockefeller and his daughter who the UK Times says is known as "Snooks"

Week-end

Officer Jerome K. Hill, who punched an undercover cop, was cleared Friday (08/01/08) afternoon of assault charges

City Officer Indicted for Rape

From Margaret Burns at the SA's office:

The Baltimore City Grand Jury indicted Rohan Mays, 27, of Rosehaven Road, Baltimore, for second-degree rape. It is alleged that Mays, who resigned from the Baltimore Police Department on July 23, 2008, raped a 16-yr. old female between June –July 2007.

Mays was taken into custody late Friday night and will have a bail hearing next week. The Court set a no-bail status.

An indictment is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceeding.

An arraignment has been set for August 27, 2008.

(rec'd on a Saturday morning, more than a week after the indictment-- odd)
More Less from the Examiner.
More from the Sun

Murderous Heroin Gang linked to Killings, Kidnappings

... and Warren Brown's involved. "As many as five Baltimore homicides over the past three months" may be related to the April kidnapping of the teenaged Blackwell brothers.

An arrest for the murder of Omar Phillips at the Linden Liquors.

The Boyfriend was charged in relation to the lady found in the sleeping bag in Aberdeen.

Was the guy who mailed anthrax to The Enquirer from Frederick?

Oh, snap. Adam Meister's got something to say about Jessamy's BMag feature, and it involves references to "Animal Farm".

Ten shootings in six days

gee, that's kind of a lot.

But there's plenty more to know and be outraged over! This just in from TBC:

Did you know that alleged strangler and rapist William Vincent Brown may have been rendered unable to kill three people if the Judiciary had done a halfway decent job? Read more to find out why!


BCPD is back on the case of Clarence "Buddy" Downs III, who police suspect was killed by scary lady Cindy McKay.

From the "Damn, you stupid" department: a Frederick citizen was busted after turning a stereo over to Best Buy, but not before removing his crack.

The City State's attorney's office will have a chance to crack down on Witness Intimidation in the case of "Robo" Jones...

Plenty of nonfatal offenses in the Blotter. Gee, that doesn't sound so bad when phrased that way...

So apparently Gerald Mungo Jr - arrested after riding a dirtbike - was arrested because his mother complained about the officer's treatment of her son.

Never bring a knife to a geranium fight?

About Kids, Not For Them

This week's CP cover story
"Puzzling Evidence:
The Confession of a Boy Convicted of Raping and Murdering a Child Outweighed Indications That He Might Not Have Done It"
retells the very disturbing story of young Ronald Hinton.

Child Arrest, two Murderers and a Rat-Eating Possum

More to the story of the arrest of 7-Year-Old Gerard Mungo Jr.-- 311 transcripts and allegations that "Sgt. Colburn and Officer Hayes made 'some type of a bet as to whether or not they could lock up a 7-year-old'"

28-year-old Paul Highfield got 10 years for beating two-year-old Anthony D'Urso to death.

Luke and Janis report that Baltimore cold-case detectives have charged William Brown, 41, with killing a 25-year-old woman with a prostitution record and a 15-year-old girl in 2004, and with raping another woman in 2003.

A woman's body was found in Aberdeen.

And then there's the story of how a "Trashy House Breeds Raccoons":

Wt first I wasn't too taken aback by the raccoon but when I saw the possum I was like ‘whoa’! But then I was told by another neighbor you really want the possum's around because of the rats they eat the rats. I just don’t want them around me! ... They're running around rampant! I had to have my roof repaired as well as my mom and several other neighbors.

What the Hamburglar's Eating Now

"Nobody thinks prison food is haute cuisine, but could it be so bad it's unconstitutional?" Slate magazine taste-tests prison Nutraloaf.

Also in this mien from Jeff Quniton's Inside Charm City: "Satellite TV coming to MD prisons"

Bang bang bang bang bang bang. Bang. Shank!

A man found bleeding in the 1200 block of Orleans street reportedly died at Hopkins hospital last night.
Monday's four shootings have been mapped by spotcrime, and a fifth shooting proved fatal early Tuesday morning.
Here's more

"I guess some people are listening to Drowning Pool's 'Let the Bodies Hit the floor' because another one was found in Northwest Baltimore today." -- TC

Grandpa's got a shiv: Tyrone Alsberry pleaded guilty to killing Willie Clayton Joyner after stabbing him during an altercation over money.

.. and three other assorted area crimes from yesterday.

At a hearing yesterday, Judge Paul Smith sentenced Tranell Dansbury, 25, of the 1600 block of North Broadway Street, to 20 years in prison for second-degree rape, 10-years consecutive for second-degree assault and 20 years concurrent for second-degree sex offense for a total prison term of 30 years. A Baltimore City jury convicted Dansbury June 12, 2008. Details:

On November 18, 1997 Dansbury, who was 15-years old at the time, forced the victim behind a brick wall located at 1400 East Madison Street where he raped and sexually assaulted her. Police identified Dansbury with a DNA search of the Combined Offender Data Index System (CODIS) in April 2007. Assistant State’s Attorney Katherine Moxley of the Sex Offense Division prosecuted this case.

At a hearing yesterday, Judge John C. Themelis sentenced Kim Hargett, 25, of the 600 block of E. 30th Street to 20 years in prison. A Baltimore City jury convicted Hargett of possession with intent to distribute heroin and cocaine on March 26, 2008. Details:

On August 25, 2007 in the 1600 block of E. 30th Street officers observed Hargett engaging in hand-to-hand drug transactions. When Hargett realized police presence, he stashed what was later identified as heroin and cocaine under a porch at 1603 E. 30th Street before running into that residence. Police arrested him inside that house and recovered more than $700 in US currency. They recovered 25 blue top vials of cocaine and 20 clear gel caps of heroin from under the porch. Assistant State’s Attorney Robin Daitch of the Narcotics Division Prosecuted this case.

This just in from TBC: As mentioned in the comments, Barney Frank (D-MA) is proposing a bill to decriminalize possession of smaller amounts of marijuana. My question for you, Mr. Frank, is this: How does it feel to support TERRORISM?