Justin Fenton guest-blogs for Hermann re. the perils of crime reporting
County
Sounds like Sunday's murder in Wilkens may have been a case of self-defense
IV: Part II of the series, "What the ef is up with Edgewood?"

salary < reality
On February 20, 2009 Linwood Buckson, 39, of the 3200 block of the Alameda was convicted of car theft and second degree [sic] assault following a Baltimore City jury trial prayer from district court. (Case number 809050026) He was sentenced to three years in prison by Judge Alfred Nance. Today, in a violation of probation hearing before Judge Charles G. Bernstein, Buckson was found guilty of violating his probation for this new conviction and sentenced to the balance of the
9-year suspended sentence he received on January 16, 2007.
Buckson faces 9 years in prison after rigorous prosecution and law enforcement coordination between local, state and federal agencies that serve on the Baltimore Violent Repeat Offender Task Force.
The facts are as follows:
On January 14, 2009 at 9:20 am, Officer Garrett was dispatched to the 500 block of North Ave for a reported stolen automobile taken December 27, 2008. The officer observed the Black Suzuki at a red light being driven by Linwood Buckson. The officer with the assistance of back up attempted to initiate a traffic stop of the vehicle by activating lights and sirens but Buckson refused to stop the vehicle. Mr. Buckson then rammed the driver side of a marked patrol vehicle occupied by Officer Moody in an attempt to flee. Even after ramming the police vehicle, Buckson began running on foot until he was ultimately apprehended in the rear of the 3300 block of The Alameda. Officer Moody did not sustain any serious injuries. The victim’s car suffered severe damage.
At the time of arrest Mr. Buckson was on probation for theft over $500 involving a vehicle. He was placed on probation January 16, 2007 after receiving a 10-year sentence with 9-years [sic], 6 months suspended.
The facts of that case are as follows:
On October 31, 2006 at 12:30 AM, in the 2500 block of West North Avenue, a patrol officer was performing random stolen checks on vehicles. The tag of the car Buckson was observed driving was reported stolen on October 30, 2006. Buckson gave the police officer a license belonging to someone else. Buckson’s driver license had been revoked and suspended.
Mr. Buckson’s arrest record spans 21 years with 29 arrests. His convictions include robbery deadly weapon, possession with intent to distribute, three convictions for CDS possession, theft over $500, unauthorized use, trespass, and two convictions for violation of probation.
During his violation of probation hearing today, the Honorable Judge Bernstein sentenced Linwood Buckson to nine years in jail consecutive to the sentence he is currently serving.
Last week, we the current and former citizens of Baltimore were informed the city will be extorting us to fill its dwindling coffers. Their weapon of choice comes in the form of excessive late fees associated with a variety of parking tickets, in some cases, many years old. According to NBC, 80,000 of us have been contacted concerning 183,000 citations totaling $132 million dollars. Some of us have now been individually saddled with THOUSANDS of dollars in fines to ease City Hall's debt ... we are furious the city views our bank accounts as their personal ATMs, for which THEY write the rules for withdrawal.