What's that loud flushing sound?

"Audit slams Baltimore region of state prison system" ... "so many opportunities for fraud and misuse of money by workers in the Baltimore region of the state prison system that state auditors are asking the attorney general to look into possible criminal charges." Not only that, but the auditors brought up the same issues three years ago, and since then, "it looks like the problems got worse"

Meanwhile the health department has launched an investigation into BBH after the Sun's story yesterday of addicts guarding the medicine cabinet

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Derrius Currie, found inside a vacant house in the 800 block of W. Lexington St.

also at 7 a.m. Police tweeted, "SHOOTING - 800 S CATON AVE. ADULT MALE SHOT, CRITICAL CONDITION."

On campus

Armed robbery of TU students in broad daylight.

More court system woes and official city shadiness

Baltimore man's home in foreclosure proceedings for 12 years, along the way illegal rent was collected.

Meanwhile, emails show the city pension board gets a free ride for exotic travel while we fork over more taxes to make up for losses. And city councilwoman Rikki Spector makes sure her out of district condo building doesn't have to take care of pesky mold.

Addicts in Charge

Why Baltimore is a mess, reason 597:
"Addicts put in charge" in rat-infested recovery housing centers. Also see CP's report on BBH from September: "We Are Not In the Housing Business"
(Lolz: BBH's housing director says house managers face "pretty rigorous criteria ... you have to have at least 60 days of clean time.")

Related: "Youth counselor [Ronald Piper Scott] pleads guilty to heroin distribution, conspiracy"

Down at the federal courthouse, The Louis Berger Group, Inc., an engineering firm that worked in Iraq and Afghanistan, agreed to pay $69.3 million to settle fraud claims

"S. Baltimore shooting possibly a botched drug deal, police say"

Edgewood a "killing zone"

FBI ISO M&T bank robber

It's a HoCoFoSho! Fifteen alleged "johns" arrested in sting .. and the Sun is naming names!

Drunkards and snowbirds

A man beaten at the Westport Light Rail station has died; other homicide victims from this past week named as Jerry Harden, 21, (the man found inside a burning apartment on McClean Blvd. Fenton notes, "Harden is the second person killed this year at the apartment complex") Kevin Anderson, 30, and Malcolm Hill, 53.

Three more suspects arrested for robbery/ beatdown of drunkards by the Intercontinental hotel

Have you been injured in an accident? "A Baltimore City jury has awarded $4.1 million to a woman and her 8-year-old son who alleged that the negligence of University of Maryland Medical Center doctors caused his cerebral palsy."

Postal inspectors fighting uphill battle against drugs in the mail

The MD state police is still fighting the release of vehicle-stop documents related to the NAACP's "driving while black" lawsuit, one that in some form has been dragging on since 1992(!)

Brendan Kearney: years-in-the-making $600k courthouse report is "justice decayed", har har har

Judge denies tax cheat Jack Stollof's plea to winter in Palm Beach

Robocalls tied to Ehrlich Employee Jules Henson

Fenton says the Election-night Robocalls telling O'Malley voters to "relax" and stay home election night have been linked to longtime-Democrat-turned Ehrlich consultant Jules Henson.

Fenton says,

"Henson’s other clients in this election included a state senate candidate from Baltimore facing no opposition, a delegate candidate who lost in the primary, a PG county executive candidate who lost in the primary, a PG county council member who lost in the primary, an Anne Arundel county council candidate who lost in the primary, a Baltimore County council candidate who lost in the primary, and a city sheriff’s candidate who lost in the primary.

Update: Henson has 'fessed up. "It never said 'don't vote'."

.. meanwhile, "carjacking suspects on the loose"

Turns for the worse

A man was stabbed to death and his apartment set on fire in the 7000 block of McClean Boulevard

Man shot to death at 215 South Woodyear Street

Eight homicides last week

Word of the day: misprision-- aka not snitching on somebody's felonious azz

Very sad story of a teen who got 18 months for murder in the CP's letters page

"A former Baltimore police officer was sentenced to five years in federal prison Wednesday for assaulting a 17-year-old and falsifying documents to cover up the attack"

Wrestling champ to be tried as an adult following brawl at the Loyola/Calvert "Turkey Bowl"

Mario's mom: assault never happened

Victor Frierson, 56, gets jail time and restitution for stealing from nonprofit

Looks like no MD constitutional convention after all

Stolen cigarettes, food in the Northern

Ramona Moore Baker = out!

52-y/o JROTC instructor: I did not have sex with that 17-year-old

Carrol County man pleads guilty after feds find more than 2 million child porn images

"Relax, everything is fine"

Fox reports, "Police are investigating the murder of man in Northeast Baltimore. It happened around 9:30 last night in the 2500-block of Robb Street. The victim was shot several times & found lying on the front porch of a home. He later died at Hopkins & has not yet been identified. No suspects are in custody. This is the 186th murder in the city so far this year."

Alan Chavis, 16, murdered last week, had been reported missing by his mother two weeks before

Anybody get an "O'Malley has already won" call last night? ... if the source of the calls is ever found, what laws would apply?

After official victory, Bernstein goes from "outside looking in" to preparing to "roll up sleeves," "drill down deep" and "hit the ground running". (Hope he also plans to bring a "mop and bucket" to clean up all the "rat turds.")

Arrest made in attack of drunk guys in front of the Intercontinental Hotel

Hewray, sluts at the mawl!! Also damages threshold raised for jury trials, Orphan's Court judges have to be members of the bar, but "fate of constitutional convention not clear"

Stolen-car driver Charles Johnson, 19, who killed two teen parents and their friend, never issued a driver's license

FBI investigating a noosed Cabbage Patch kid in Laurel.

A U of MD writing teacher with "a passion for firearms" arrested for murder in St. Mary's County

Page Croyder: laywers aren't the cure for human stupidity

wars we're ignoring

Fenton has more on murdered tow-truck driver Andrew Joyce. Said the victim's dad: "We think about these poor boys overseas fighting in the war, but we've got a war going on in the inner cities of this country, and it's a war we're ignoring."

and more on the victims of the stolen-car crash: two were 17-year-old parents of a 5-month old baby

Meow meow trippin ballz, meow meow

UnID'd victim killed in the 500 block of Mosher Street
Update: Victim ID'd as 23yr old tow truck driver Andrew Joyce.

Three teens shot, one killed in Halethorpe
Update: Murdered teen ID'd as 16-year-old Dequan Travonte Burks

Windsor Mill post office evacuated on account of suspicious package

Sad: Three people killed by teenager driving a stolen car in Federal Hill. Infuriating: the driver "was on probation for a theft charge in Baltimore County. In October 2009 he was convicted and sentenced to 18 months in jail, with all but 12 months suspended, and was placed on probation through March 2011. He has since been picked up on two violations of that probation." I thought Baltimore county actually took that kind of thing seriously?

"10-year-old boys found responsible in puppy's beating death" Related: TDR notes that O'Malley and Ehrlich are both quite happy to not talk about the DJS

Rockville designers to SCOTUS: video games deserve First Amendment protection

Hot Euro trend: new legal-ish drugs with names like "Meow Meow" & "Ivory Wave" and "Pi Panes."

Extra credit essay: "What pit bulls can teach us about profiling"

Debtors prison

Looks like you can still get thrown in jail over a unpaid non-child support debt

Bad for your health

Woman in her 20s shot to death in the 2300 block of Braddish Avenue at about 3 a.m.

Cell phone's GPS system catches thief-- but Sprint wants victims to pick up his gab tab

Ya think? "Police suspect alcohol a factor in Washington Monument crash" also see "Study: Alcohol more lethal than heroin, cocaine"

A Treat for You

Golden.

Judge Martin P. Welch

Judge Martin P. Welch was named the new chief judge Tuesday.
Prevas' funeral was lovely, BTW. As lovely as a funeral can be, anyway.

A verbal argument in the 400 block of South Vincent Street leads to a possible homicide

Cancer-scam victim talks to WBAL

Jury indicts lumpy-faced Gary Latham for murder of septuagenarian taxi driver John Sandy

Baltimore tapped for domestic violence pilot program

WTF? Prison official pleads guilty to taking cash from inmates.. and burying it in a junkyard?

Hermann has more on Prevas' final case

Touchy-feely school volunteer posed as Lady Liberty on his Facebook page

BB shooter

Kid shot in the face by long range BB shooter.

But it was a really cute pug!

WTF? County woman who bilked Facebook friends out of cash by claiming she had cancer, then used the money for a pug and lawn services, got 15 years + restitution today.

"Twice convicted of murder, man gets off again"

A would-be burglar shot in the leg in a York Rd. Store (on the same block that once housed the Afro Hut)

ACLU sues MD State Police over officer's use of the n-word

Lawyers get foreclosure training

wacky! If you miss a letter and type "baltimorecrime.blogpot.com" instead, this is what you get.

Barf.

Coppin State track star shot in the chest in the Mondawmin mall parking lot

Evil child-abusing-and-pornographing Middle River couple John F. Nicklas IV and Shannon L. Honea to get at least 50 years. More details to make you puke on your shoes.

And if that didn't set you to yacking, how about this guy at the MoCo library?

Prevas Funeral Arrangements

The arrangements for Judge Prevas:
This Thursday the 28th will be a viewing at the Leonard J. Ruck Home, 5305 Harford Road in Hamilton from 3-9 p.m. Then Friday from 10:30-11 he will lie in state at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation, 24 W. Preston St., 21201, followed by services and internment at the Greek Orthodox Cemetery off of Windsor Mill Road.

his proper obit from Jacques Kelly

and eulogies from friends in The Daily Record

and finally, here's the judge at karioke (at 1:20):


and pps., the Judge's final judicial act was to give 50 years to a well-deserving a-hole. From the SAO:

October 27, 2010 – In one of his last judicial acts on Monday, the Honorable John N. Prevas sentenced Antoine Epps, 21, of the 5500 block of Force Road to 50 years in prison following his convictions in September for armed carjacking, robbery and gun counts. Judge Prevas sentenced Epps to 30 years in prison for the armed carjacking count, a consecutive 20 years for use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence count and a concurrent 20 years for the robbery deadly weapon count. A Baltimore jury convicted Epps September 10, 2010. The sentencing hearing conducted by Judge Prevas was his last judicial decision; he left the bench shortly after this hearing complaining of chest pain and died later that day. As he left the bench, he told attorneys waiting to start a trial to be on call.

On July 24, 2009, Terrence Royster gave a ride to defendant Antoine Epps and one of his friends. When Mr. Royster arrived to the location identified by the suspects, an unknown co-defendant pulled a gun on the victim and Antoine Epps removed the keys from the ignition. They then ordered Mr. Royster out of the vehicle and robbed him of some of his possessions. Mr. Epps began beating him with a handgun. After beating Mr. Epps, the defendant’s ordered him into the trunk of his vehicle and drove him around the City for about an hour.

When they finally stopped the vehicle, the defendants again ordered the victim out of the vehicle, made him strip naked, and continued to beat him with the handgun. According to the victim, he was hit over 50 times with the handgun. After they left, the victim walked and crawled to a nearby home trying to obtain help. Police located him in a fetal position, bleeding profusely from his head.