It gets better

Got an email from the Justice Policy Institute expressing aggravation that while prison populations are down nationwide, Maryland's prison population is up. Of course one's first gut reaction is, I don't want to pay $40-60 a day to feed, house and clothe 1.8% more assorted fuckweasels and fudgeclowns. But-- could it be-- dare we imagine-- that the growth in state prison population is a sign that homicides and shootings are down because police are arresting the right people, prosecutors are bringing better cases, rapes are being investigated and prosecuted and the jury pool is sucking slightly less? Note that per Gary Maynard, 40% of MD's prison population is from Baltimore City, 25% is from PGC, 15% from Baltimore County, and the state's other 21 counties make up the rest.

Bullies: mostly winning

Mike, the owner of the Up Close barber shop is still in critical condition after being shot in the head during the course of a robbery yesterday. Police are ISO a lead.

Nelson Bernard Clifford, a sex offender who just beat rape charges, was linked by DNA to two more rapes*. And was also charged with a rape last month. He was also charged with failing to register as a sex offender, but the circuit court dropped those charges, 10 days before he was charged with rape again.

A year and a day on tax evasion charges for former criminal defense attorney Stanley Needleman, who had $1.3 million in cash from clients stashed in his basement. Probably there's a lot more to this story, probably involving laundering drug proceeds, but probably we'll never know. For what it's worth, in June Needleman was also charged with stealing a book from a courtroom.

Justin Fenton is trying to figure out how Brandon Mitchell, 18, was arrested for murder and released on bail*-- twice in one week, no less, and after a commissioner ordered him held without bond.

Oh crackheads, you so crazy! A burglar broke into a house by busting through the wall of the vacant next door.

Nationwide, death-penalty cases are at a 35-year low, says the Death Penalty Information Center.

Jury selection was underway this morning in the case of parents who are suing the city school system for $1.3 million for not doing enough to protect their special-needs son from bullies at Hazelwood and Glenmount Elementary Schools. More here*

In other torty news, Blockbuster just settled sexual harassment and retaliation claims from its Gaithersburg distribution center for $2 million.

And no decision yesterday from Judge Althea Handy*, who was asked to dismiss a $100 million SLAPP suit from the state aimed at opponents of the $1.5 billion State Center project. Two plaintiffs dropped out of the suit in exchange for the state agreeing to not sue them for suing.

Crazy numbers

Some amazing stats reported at the CJCC meeting today:

• From January 1 until today, there have been 549 homicides and shootings so far in the city, compared with 942 in 2000.
• The city closed about 1,000 more felony cases this year than it did in 2010, thanks to reorganization of the docket and the addition of a second administrative judge.
• Deaths in which the manner was undetermined are way down, from 331 in 2007 to a virtually unprecedented 154 so far this year, said David Fowler of the ME's office. (Most of these are drug-related, with the ME's office unable to determine if a heroin addict injected themselves or was injected by someone else, which would make the death technically a homicide).
• Arrested citizens released without charges are also way down from last year, with the city releasing 70% fewer arrestees with no charges than last year-- 4,875 fewer people.
• And finally, homicide arrests: 93 so far this year for 189 homicides, for a tidy 50% clearance rate.

Of course, every rose has its thorn, and the one currently bedeviling the city's backside is property crime. So far this year the BPD reports that home-invasion robberies with a gun are up 25%, rape arrests are up 63% (of course we have an inkling as to why that might be*), burglary is up 12%, and commercial robberies with a gun are up 75% over this time last year.

So why so few shootings, murders and overdoses, and why so much robbery? Is the judicial system just that more effective this year? Is the economy turning former shoplifters into armed home invaders? All or none of the above? Mysteries abound...

A murder conviction, cross-dressing cops and a stolen sandwich

The Ink covers last week's five murders

A second man, Kedar Anderson, was convicted for involvement in the murder of Kenneth Jones, former leader of the Pasadena Denver Lanes Bloods gang.

Police Tweet "4200 block Ivanhoe. Adult male reported to be shot in the leg"

A warning to the patrons of the transgendered prostitutes of Charles Village, a sting operation is "forthcoming."* (Is "transgenders" really a plural noun?)

Sixteen students at Chesapeake High School in Essex were sent to the hospital after an officer used pepper spray to break up a fight.

Baltimore rape suspect Kendall Thomas Lynn was arrested in NC

Molto duro combattimento between bocce players in Little Italy

A $77,500 fine for Wheelabrator Baltimore, after the company's smokestack showered us all with mercury.

A $500k fine for Wells Fargo, which made defamatory statements about a local broker

A snowblower, three 500-pound weights and an air conditioner among the purloined loot in Towson last week.* Stolen in the Northern: a snakeskin wallet, deodorant, a buffalo chicken sub.

Federal judge: it's legal to not hire tattooed prospective cops

Settling for less

More city lawsuit payouts TK*, including $375k to the family of Edward Lamont Hunt, unarmed and fatally shot in the back in the parking lot of the Hamilton Park Shopping Center in 2008 (You might remember ... Officer Thomas Sanders was charged with manslaughter, but acquitted) and $36,600 for an army reservist who didn't get his job back after his service.

Five-time felon McKenzie White got 19 years in the federal pen after his latest attempted robbery that was stymied by his clever would-be victim and his quick-thinking dad.

A disturbing number of citizens robbed by teenagers in the latest Baltimore Guide police blotter

Timothy Ray Berry of Owings Mills copped a guilty plea to illegal possession of weapons and explosives: he shot a kid in the leg with a BB gun, which led the FBI to search his house and find his stash of C-4 explosive material, an M-800 pyrotechnic device, containers of potassium nitrate and potassium chlorate, smokeless shotgun powder, model rocket igniters and motors, pool chemicals, various fuse materials, PVC and metal pipe of varying lengths and pipe fittings. (And he would've gotten away with it, if it wasn't for that kid!)

Stealing donations from the United Way? That's low, Dorothy Shields Talbot.

The death of a 57-year-old inmate at the North Branch Correctional Institution was ruled a homicide, the medical examiner say Lewis J. Thompson Jr. was strangulated.

How much would it cost to tear down the city's vacant buildings? Oh, take a wild guess.

Goodbye Occupy

The Occupy Baltimore encampment is gone*. Police evicted them peacefully around 3 AM this morning with no arrests being reported.
(Un-paywalled-story here at the SF Chronicle, and video from Fenton*, who apparently never sleeps and/or was tipped off by someone... - MJ)

189

A 58-year-old man was stabbed to death at an apartment complex for seniors in the NW.

Police released a sketch, left, of a suspect wanted for a robbery/stabbing at a gas station on Nov. 6 in the 2200 block of North Charles Street

The city's 11th police-involved shooting this year was one Franklin Williams, 38, now in critical condition. His family says he suffers from schizophrenia; police say was wielding a knife and wouldn't drop it. As per their custom, BPD has refused to release the officer's name.

Two shootings yesterday in west Baltimore

A man found suspiciously dead in a Remington parking lot was ID'd as Steven Rudy, 53.

A suspect was arrested after trying to rob the PNC bank inside the Towson University student union.

Can police check a passenger's immigration status during a traffic stop? If a passenger in a car has a history of arrest for armed robbery, can he be lawfully patted down for weapons? Can Spanish-speaking prospective jurors be dismissed if they aren't sure they can ignore any Spanish they encounter in favor of a translator's translation? All these questions and more answered in TDR's roundup of Fourth-Circuit Court of Appeals' Opinions

From the Evergreen listserv:

Video Americain [on Cold Spring Lane] was robbed on Wednesday, 7th of December at 9:30PM. We have a description of the robber who claimed to be wielding a firearm (which was never shown) and assaulted one of our employees before robbing us: African-American. 5'8 or 5'9. Skinny. Short dreads. Tribal-looking tattoo under left eye. Also noticed a smaller one near his right eye.

O'Malley wants Lady Gaga to come to MD to fight against bullying. Insert punchline here.

An arrest has been made in a September killing in Dundalk. Jeremiah Ezekiel Edwards, 19 has been charged with first degree murder for the murder of Robert Charles Nelson, 24.

County police are searching for a missing 14-year-old girl. If you have any information on the whereabouts of Madison Renee Davis of Dundalk, please let the authorities know.

A shooting outside Club Envy on Maryland Ave. puts three in the hospital.

Police in Towson have arrested a man for committing a series of Goodwill store robberies. Richard Carvan Pettaway, 29, who also happened to be a former employee of the Padonia store, was busted after showing he seriously lacked goodwill. (That was terrible...)

Durante Ricco Ervin, 50, a Pikesville vagrant was arrested for committing several robberies including one where he threw an elderly couple to the ground during a house robbery.

After three years the search for Brittany Peart has taken a tragic end with the discovery of her body in a field in Delaware.

Man shot at 29th & Calvert

A man was shot in the head at Calvert and 29th streets in Charles Village at 11 p.m. last night. UPDATE: he was ID'd as Brandon Hudson, 22*, shot while sitting on a couch in the first floor of an apartment.

and Police Tweet, "Triple Shooting, 1800 Blk Maryland Ave (Central District), 12:58am, adult males shot."

Fenton Tweets that 1992 shooting victim Ronald Watkins had been hanging out at Odell's nightclub. (Remember Odell's? That place was awesome). Apparently this story was written just two weeks before Watkins' shooting-- the armed guards must have not done much good. The club was owned by Milton Tillman, Jr., of bail bonds fame, and defended by his lawyer, Elijah Cummings. Heh heh, Doo Doo Brown.

Ten years for an Edgewood cocaine dealer, whose slang term for crack was "the Jolly Rancher."

A 12th officer, Rafael Feliciano Jr., has pleaded guilty in the towing scandal

More speed cameras have gone up around town for a total of 142 (!!) -- noticed a new one on North Charles St. southbound at Blythewood (by Loyola) when some Speedy McJerkwad in front of me got the flash, a location that notably not on this list. Not a bad idea to check the list-- then drive like a grandma anyway.

A new e-book about Ed Norris is out, focusing on his investigation of the shooting death of Jew­ish Defense League founder Rabbi Mier Kahan while with the NYPD. If you're interested, you can download it for Kindlefor less than a buck.

A Federal court judge ruled bloggers aren't entitled to journalists' legal protections that allow them to shield sources. In other words, bloggers, if you allege something expect to have to prove it's true. &@%#!!

Plain clothes cops speak plainly

BPD caught on tape being less than polite during a traffic stop.

186, 187

Why so stabby, Baltimore? Another fatal stabbing, this time a 45-year-old man in the NW*; in the 3500 block of Woodland Ave. Update: Fenton ID's the man as Christopher Gilliam, and says a female "of interest" is in custody but not charged.

Ronald Watkins, shot 19 years ago at the corner of North Ave and Charles Street, has died from his injuries and been added to this year's homicide toll.

A suspiciously dead body that is either male or female-- or is it two bodies? was found in Remington. WMAR clears up the mystery-- it's a body that police first reported was a woman, then decided was male. Ok then.

A woman was robbed of her cell phone by a guy driving a Cadillac and wielding a baseball bat; in Abell a would-be robber was disarmed by employees; a 7-Eleven robbed in Remington in the North Baltimore Patch blotter.

The Country Club of Maryland was burglarized and thieves made off with $2,000 of stuff-- aka one-third of one member's initiation dues.

Today in bad sex news, two officers are are on leave following an alleged public threesome; a Glen Burnie teacher is in trouble for having sex with three students.

Here's a theory to ponder: trust in government leading to a lower crime rate, with the decline in crime the past few years a result of "the Obama effect."

185

A man stabbed to death on Eastern Avenue Northeast N. East Avenue

A man shot multiple times at 12:39 p.m. in the 700 block of Willow Avenue, mere blocks (but worlds away) from Guilford

A second week with only one murder (that we know of). The unfortunate victim was Kenneth Davis, 29.

Attorneys need to stop releasing information about who's snitching cooperating with law enforcement, said RJR* following the indictments of Tavon Dameon Davis, 24, and Bruce Eric Byrd, 26, for conspiring and committing murder for hire, murdering a witness and conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

Tyrone Jackson, 52, pleaded guilty in federal court to possessing $488,572.50 in forged checks and 327 videos and 779 photos of pornographic images of children (why do the pedo guys always have so many damn images?).

Assault victim Christy Lee Polis was charged with disorderly conduct after reporting a robbery in the county.

Eastern District commander is owner of a run-down vacant that he's too broke* to fix up, reports the Sun's Scott Calvert

Deposed fraudster Belinda Conaway attended her last City Council meeting on Monday night, as did Nick D'Adamo, who serenaded the venerable council with a parody tune.

Schurick Guilty on all Four Counts

Tweeted Luke Broadwater

Update, here's the Sun story*, the WBAL story (featuring an old clip that includes character witness John Heath: "the Paul Schurick that I know was a person who went in the hood ... and he hung out in Old York Road with the brothers.")

.. and down in PGC, seven years in the slammer for Jack "put it in your panties" Johnson.

Deputy shot in the line of duty may be fired

He took a bullet while serving a murder warrant, now he may take a fall for speaking to the media.

Meanwhile, no end in sight to the city worker turned criminal turned tax payer funded pensioner (aka The Dixon rule)

'never thought he'd do something like that to a friend'

Hampden went on lockdown yesterday due to the report of a roving armed loonybird

Three people reported shot this weekend, Tweeted the BPD: two adult males at Vancouver & Markham, and a woman shot in the 900 block of Jack Street.

Paul Schurick's robocall case is expected to go to the jury today; he faces a maximum of 12-16 years in jail if convicted on three conspiracy charges and failure to supply an authority line. (WJZ says 12 years, the WaPo says 5 years for 3 counts plus one year for the authority line thing... who's right?). Henson's trial is scheduled for February.

Trial postponed for Dante Parrish, a convicted murderer accused of killing teenager Jason Mattison, right. "The family told 11 News at the time of the slaying that Parrish was a friend and that they knew he was a convicted murderer but never thought he'd do something like that to a friend."

Stolen copper gutters, yes, latest trend, no. In spite of feeble legal attempts to crack down on the sale of stolen metal, homeowners are still getting (literally) ripped off... exacerbating the suck, homeowner's associations are forcing some residents to re-purchase the luxury gutters.

National: D.E.A. launders millions of dollars in drug money to find out who's laundering money. Ps., happy 78th Repeal Day! Have some fun facts about prohibition. ("In Los Angeles, a jury that had heard a bootlegging case was itself put on trial after it drank the evidence"). There are still more than 100 dry communities in the U.S., but none in Maryland, where no municipality is allowed to have an ordinance more strict than state law. Though you'd think MD's annoying prohibition against buying booze on Sunday dates back to the Volstead act, it actually doesn't-- it apparently dates all the way back to pre-colonial times.

Hordiculous

There really needs to be a word that combines ridiculous and horrible. Ridorrible? Horriculous? Whatever you call it, it was bountiful Friday at the robocall trial, with the defense calling somewhere between nine and 18"character" witnesses* to testify to the general awesomeness of Ehrlich's campaign manager, Paul Shurick. How their platitudes could be material to the facts I can't imagine, but anyway, the beacons of virtue hand-picked to testify included executive director of the Maryland Coal Association, a firefighter, and Michael Steele, now best known for presiding over the Republican party as it wooed donors with bottle service at a bondage club. Oh, and also former governor Marvin Mandel, now 92 years old and best known as MD's first (and only) convicted-felon governor, who spent 19 months in jail on various fraud charges. And Schurick testified for his own defense, blaming it all on his underling. "I recall saying to Julius, 'I’m paying you $16,000 a month, give us a plan." Adding to the ridiculorribleness, beloved dykon Jayne Miller broke her ankle on a city shitty sidewalk while covering the case. And BTW and p.s., after testifying that he had never heard the robocall, on Friday a special agent basically proved that he had. Then he admitted it. D'oh!

#BlackMan'sRights??

Good Jeebuz! Three men were arrested last night after a four-hour, two-county crime spree that involved 12 victims, including a man stripped naked, another man shot in the eye and the leg, and a wrecked Lincoln Continental.

A third murder at Perkins Hospital? Really?

The prosecution rested yesterday in the robo-call case, after Julius Henson's employee Rhonda Russell, who recorded the "relax, everything's fine" message, offered the lamest excuses ev. er., testifying that the calls were "reverse psychology ... I was told this call would stimulate whoever wanted to vote for Mr. Ehrlich." Never mind that the calls went only to Democrats or that Russell's notes included the phrase "suppress turnout in black communities." Not every member of the black community is horrified by this, though. Wrote Mr. Hassan MrPolitics Giordano on the Facebooks, "First their aim was at Julius (Henson), and still is quite frankly; now they're looking 2 hang Frank Conaway?! I guess an outspoken black man who doesn't have 2 rely on them 2 gain fortune & fame better learn their place huh?! SMDH...#BlackMan'sRights??"

Speaking of, the Sun has posted the police report from the Conaway/Meister kerfuffle... oh my, not very flattering to either one of them! The report says Adam Scott attempted a karate kick, and Frank Melvin was indeed on the sidewalk with his gun. Oh, my.

Stephanie Lynn Schwab, the "Blonde Bandit," the Thanksgiving carjacker, the potato-chinned MS-13 mom, was nabbed on the D.C. beltway after robbing a bank in McLean, VA.

More good news: Fenton tweets that November ended with "only" 10 homicides: the lowest level in 40 years. A man who allegedly home-invaded the elderly in Pikesville has been arrested. So relax. Everything is fine. The only thing left is to watch it on TV tonight. Congratulations, and thank you.

Sixth time's a charm?

Drug dealer, convicted double-murderer and amateur lawyer Anthony Grandison is headed to the Court of Appeals* for the sixth time. Grandison is currently on death row for hiring Vernon Evans to kill David Piechowicz and Susan Kennedy in April of 1983.

184

Fatal shooting of a 29-year-old man on the 500 block of South Bentalou Street; a carjacking at Dru Hill and Whitelock.

The Ink details last week's single homicide, and the fifth fatal police-involved shooting of the year.

The defense and prosecution agreed yesterday that Ehrlich's campaign manager, Paul Schurick, personally approved the "relax" robocalls, and prosecutors described a desperate and panicked election eve for the Republican campaign. Fun fact: the Sun's Justin Fenton was the sleuth who traced the calls to the Ehrlich campaign.

Fenton and Hermann follow up on TAB's tip that Darnell Kinlaw, charged with car theft in the Annie McCann case as a teenager, has now been arrested for killing Lakeisha Player and stealing her car*. Kinlaw was apparently out of jail due to the magic of concurrent sentences and credit for time served.

And another murder arrest, Jerome Burgess Jr.*, 19, has been charged in the murder of 25-year-old Tavon Toney, who was robbed and killed walking on Franklin St. Incredibly, reports Fenton, this is Burgess' fifth arrest this year.

The special prosecutor for the Meister vs. Conaway kerfuffle has been appointed*, one Steven I. Kroll, head of the Maryland State Attorney's Association. Don't know if he shares Meister and Bernstein's "commonality of their religion*" (Kroll is a German name, with a family crest of two crossed bird feet), but surely Conaway's lawyer will squawk regardless.

Occupy Baltimore permit = denied! Didn't that happen already, you say? Indeed it did, in October the group applied for a permit and was denied then, too, but nothing came of it. Parks & Rec. also adds that "assemblies of more than 150 are prohibited." Isn't that kind of, like, a violation of the 1st Amendment?

Greenmount Avenue merchants worry about crime. Remember when you could go there after dark, get a Pupu platter at Uncle Lee's and browse for books at the bookstore across the street? Old person sigh ...

Sonja Sohn on violence

Wire actress talked about the impact of growing up in a violent home at a summit in Baltimore.